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OUTING  ADVENTURE  LIBRARY 

FIRST  THROUGH  THE 
GRAND     CANYON 

By  major  JOHN  WESLEY  POWELL   iX^M-Hi 


Being  the  Record  of  the  Pioneer  Exploration 
of  the  Colorado  River  in  1869-70 


EDITED  BY 
HORACE  KEPHART 


NEW  YORK 

OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

MCMXVI 


^C?t 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


All  right*  reserved. 


Bancroft  Library 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Colorado  River  of  the  West  is 
formed  in  southeastern  Utah  by  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Grand  and  Green  rivers.  For 
hundreds  of  miles  it  flows  through  a  series 
of  profound  chasms,  in  many  places  from 
4,000  to  6,000  feet  deep,  and  rising  nearly 
vertically  for  a  considerable  distance  above 
the  water.  These  canons  are  from  one  to 
fifteen  miles  wide  at  the  top.  The  most 
famous  of  them  is  the  Marble-Grand 
canon  (really  continuous,  although  it  goes 
under  two  names,  the  Marble  and  the 
Grand) .  Through  this  vast  gorge  the  Col- 
orado drops  2,330  feet  in  283  miles,  the  cur- 
rent sometimes  attaining  a  velocity  of 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour.  The  river  itself 
varies  in  width  from  seventy-five  feet  to  a 
quarter  of  a  mile.  In  the  narrowest  places 
it  has  at  times  a  depth  of  over  100  feet. 


6  INTRODUCTION 

Up  to  1869  practically  nothing  was 
known  of  the  Colorado  River  from  its 
source  to  where  it  emerges  into  the  valley 
of  the  Grand  Wash,  except  what  could  be 
observed  from  look-out  points  at  the  tops 
of  the  canons,  or  from  the  few  places  where 
descents  had  been  made  to  the  bottom.  It 
was  a  river  of  mystery  and  of  fear.  For 
long  distances  it  was  supposed  to  flow  un- 
derground. There  was  no  evidence  that 
any  human  being  had  ever  passed  through 
the  canons  and  come  out  alive.  The  In- 
dians who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  consid- 
ered such  a  feat  preposterous. 

Then  came  a  scientist  and  a  man  of 
nerve.  Major  John  Wesley  Powell,  who 
studied  the  river  carefully  at  several  points 
along  its  bank,  and  calmly  decided  to  risk 
his  life  in  clearing  up  the  mystery  by  navi- 
gating the  stream  clear  through  to  the 
Wash. 

The  undertaking  was  all  the  more  re- 
markable from  the  fact  that  Powell  had 
only  one  arm.     He  had  lost  his  right  arm 


INTRODUCTION  7 

in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  His  plucky  young 
wife,  to  whom  he  had  been  married  but  a 
month,  was  present  at  headquarters  when 
he  was  wounded,  and  promptly  offered  her- 
self as  a  substitute  for  the  missing  limb  so 
that  her  husband  could  continue  in  service. 
She  then  and  there  enlisted,  and  General 
Grant  gave  her  a  "perpetual  pass"  to  fol- 
low the  army  in  the  capacity  she  had 
chosen.  With  this  help  Major  Powell  con- 
tinued in  active  service  to  the  close  of  the 
war. 

In  his  student  days  Powell  had  made  a 
specialty  of  what  was  then  called  "natural 
history."  When  the  war  was  over  he  ac- 
cepted a  professorship  of  geology  in  the  Il- 
linois Wesleyan  University,  and  later  held 
a  similar  chair  in  the  Illinois  Normal  Uni- 
versity. In  the  summer  of  1867  he  initiated 
the  practice  of  student  field  work  by  taking 
his  class  to  the  mountains  of  Colorado  for 
geological  exploration.  It  was  on  this  trip 
that  he  formed  the  idea  of  exploring  the 
canons  of  the  Colorado  River  of  the  West. 


8  INTRODUCTION 

Having  obtained  funds  from  public  institu- 
tions of  Illinois  to  outfit  his  little  expedition, 
he  started  from  Green  River  City,  above 
the  head  of  the  Colorado  proper.  May  24, 
1869,  on  one  of  the  most  hazardous  adven- 
tures in  the  history  of  exploration.  He 
emerged  from  the  Grand  Canon  on  August 
29,  with  five  of  the  nine  men  he  had  started 
with.  Foiu-  had  deserted  on  the  way,  and 
three  of  these  were  killed  by  Indians. 

Major  Powell's  report  on  this  first  ex- 
ploration of  the  Colorado  River  was  pub- 
lished by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in 
1875.  Together  with  the  scientific  data  ap- 
pended, it  forms  a  large  quarto  volume, 
which  is  now  out  of  print.  The  narrative 
part  is  here  republished  without  abridge- 
ment. 

In  1870,  Congress  established  a  Topo- 
graphical and  Geological  Survey  of  the  Col- 
orado River  of  the  West,  and  Powell  was 
placed  in  charge  of  it.  In  1871-1872  he 
made  a  second  descent  of  the  river,  this  time 
for  the  government.    Again  he  came  through 


INTRODUCTION  9 

unharmed,  proving  his  mastery  of  a  species 
of  navigation  so  difficult  that  many  who 
have  tried  it  in  later  years  have  perished  in 
those  brawling  waters. 

Much  of  Powell's  attention  was  given  to 
American  ethnology,  and  when  a  Bureau  of 
Ethnology  was  formed  by  the  government, 
he  was  appointed  its  director.  In  1881  he 
succeeded  Clarence  King  as  director  of  the 
TJ.  S.  Geological  Survey.  Major  Powell 
died  September  23, 1902. 

Horace  Kephaet. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

I     The  Valley  of  the  Colorado     .      .      .15 

II     From   Green   River   City  to   Flaming 

Gorge    ...  27 

III  From  Flaming  Gorge  to  the  Gate  of 

LODORE 39 

IV  The  Canyon  of  Lodore  .....     60 

V     From  Echo  Park  to  the  Mouth  of  the 

Uinta  River 83 

VI     From  the  Mouth  of  the  Uinta  River  to 

Junction  of  the  Grand  and  Green,   .   113 

VII  From  the  Junction  of  the  Grand  and 
Green  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Little 
Colorado 142 

VIII     The  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado  .   198 

IX     The  Rio  Virgen  and  the  U-In-Ka-Ret 

Mountains 258 


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POWBbCS   JOURNCV 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  VALLEY  OE  THE  COLORADO 

THE  Colorado  River  is  formed  by 
the  junction  of  the  Grand  and 
Green. 
The  Grand  River  has  its  source  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  five  or  six  miles  west  of 
Long's  Peak,  in  latitude  40°  17'  and  longi- 
tude 105°  43'  approximately.  A  group  of 
little  alpine  lakes,  that  receive  their  waters 
directly  from  perpetual  snow-banks,  dis- 
charge into  a  common  reservoir,  known  as 
Grand  Lake,  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water.  Its 
quiet  surface  reflects  towering  cliffs  and 
crags  of  granite  on  its  eastern  shore;  and 
stately  pines  and  firs  stand  on  its  western 
margin. 

The  Green  River  heads  near  Fremont's 
Peak,  in  the  Wind  River  Mountains,  in  lati- 

15 


16      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

tude  43''  15'  and  longitude  109°  45',  approx- 
imately. This  river,  like  the  last,  has  its 
sources  in  alpine  lakes,  fed  by  everlasting 
snows.  Thousands  of  these  little  lakes, 
with  deep,  cold,  emerald  waters,  are  embos- 
omed among  the  crags  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. These  streams,  born  in  the  cold, 
gloomy  sohtudes  of  the  upper  mountain  re- 
gion, have  a  strange,  eventful  history  as  they 
pass  down  through  gorges,  tumbling  in  cas- 
cades and  cataracts,  until  they  reach  the  hot, 
arid  plains  of  the  Lower  Colorado,  where 
the  waters  that  were  so  clear  above  empty 
as  turbid  floods  into  the  Gulf  of  California. 

The  mouth  of  the  Colorado  is  in  latitude 
81°  53'  and  longitude  115°. 

The  Green  River  is  larger  than  the 
Grand,  and  is  the  upper  continuation  of  the 
Colorado.  Including  this  river,  the  whole 
length  of  the  stream  is  about  two  thousand 
miles.  The  region  of  country  drained  by 
the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries  is  about 
eight  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  varies 
from  three  hundred  to  five  hundred  in  width, 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  COLORADO      17 

containing  about  three  hundred  thousand 
square  miles,  an  area  larger  than  all  the  New 
England  and  Middle  States,  and  Maryland 
and  Virginia  added,  or  as  large  as  Min- 
nesota, Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Illinois,  and  Mis- 
souri. 

There  are  two  distinct  portions  of  the 
basin  of  the  Colorado.  The  lower  third  is 
but  little  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  though 
here  and  there  ranges  of  mountains  rise  to 
an  altitude  of  from  two  to  six  thousand  feet. 
This  part  of  the  valley  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  a  line  of  cliffs,  that  present  a  bold, 
often  vertical  step,  hundreds  or  thousands 
of  feet  to  the  table-lands  above. 

The  upper  two-thirds  of  the  basin  rises 
from  four  to  eight  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  This  high  region,  on  the 
east,  north,  and  west,  is  set  with  ranges  of 
snow-clad  mountains,  attaining  an  altitude 
above  the  sea  varying  from  eight  to  fourteen 
thousand  feet.  All  winter  long,  on  its 
mountain-crested  rim,  snow  falls,  filling  the 
gorges,  half  burying  the  forests,  and  cover- 


18      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ing  the  crags  and  peaks  with  a  mantle  woven 
by  the  winds  from  the  waves  of  the  sea — 
a  mantle  of  snow.  When  the  simimer-sun 
comes,  this  snow  melts,  and  tumbles  down 
the  mountain-sides  in  millions  of  cascades. 
Ten  million  cascade  brooks  unite  to  form  ten 
thousand  torrent  creeks;  ten  thousand  tor- 
rent creeks  unite  to  form  a  hundred  rivers 
beset  with  cataracts ;  a  hundred  roaring  riv- 
ers imite  to  form  the  Colorado,  which  rolls, 
a  mad,  turbid  stream,  into  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

Consider  the  action  of  one  of  these 
streams:  its  source  in  the  mountains,  where 
the  snows  fall;  its  course  through  the  arid 
plains.  Now,  if  at  the  river's  flood  storms 
were  falling  on  the  plains,  its  channel  would 
be  cut  but  little  faster  than  the  adjacent 
country  would  be  washed,  and  the  general 
level  would  thus  be  preserved;  but,  under 
the  conditions  here  mentioned,  the  river 
deepens  its  bed,  as  there  is  much  through 
corrosion  and  but  little  lateral  degradation. 

So  all  the  streams  cut  deeper  and  still 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  COLORADO      19 

deeper  until  their  banks  are  towering  cliffs 
of  solid  rock.  These  deep,  narrow  gorges 
are  called  canons. 

For  more  than  a  thousand  miles  along  its 
course,  the  Colorado  has  cut  for  itself  such 
a  canon ;  but  at  some  few  points,  where  lat- 
eral streams  join  it,  the  canon  is  broken,  and 
narrow,  transverse  valleys  divide  it  properly 
into  a  series  of  canons. 

The  Virgen,  Kanab,  Paria,  Escalante, 
Dirty  Devil,  San  Rafael,  Price,  and  Uinta 
on  the  west,  the  Grand,  Yampa,  San  Juan, 
and  Colorado  Chiquito  on  the  east,  have  also 
cut  for  themselves  such  narrow,  winding 
gorges,  or  deep  canons.  Every  river  enter- 
ing these  has  cut  another  canon;  every  lat- 
eral creek  has  cut  a  canon;  every  brook  runs 
in  a  canon;  every  rill  born  of  a  shower,  and 
born  again  of  a  shower,  and  living  only  dur- 
ing these  showers,  has  cut  for  itself  a  canon ; 
so  that  the  whole  upper  portion  of  the  basin 
of  the  Colorado  is  traversed  by  a  labyrinth 
of  these  deep  gorges. 

Owing  to  a  great  variety  of  geological 


^0      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

conditions,  these  canons  differ  much  in  gen- 
eral aspect.  The  Rio  Virgen,  between  Long 
Valley  and  the  Mormon  town  of  Schunes- 
burgh,  runs  through  Pa-ru'-nu-weap  Canon, 
often  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
in  width,  and  from  six  hundred  to  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  feet  deep. 

Away  to  the  north,  the  Yampa  empties 
into  the  Green  by  a  canon  that  I  essayed  to 
cross  in  the  fall  of  1868,  and  was  baffled  from 
day  to  day  until  the  fourth  had  nearly  passed 
before  I  could  find  my  way  down  to  the 
river.  But  thirty  miles  above  its  mouth, 
this  canon  ends,  and  a  narrow  valley,  with 
a  flood-plain,  is  found.  Still  farther  up  the 
stream,  the  river  comes  down  through  an- 
other canon,  and  beyond  that  a  narrow  val- 
ley is  found,  and  its  upper  course  is  now 
through  a  canon  and  now  a  valley. 

All  these  canons  are  alike  changeable  in 
their  topographic  characteristics. 

The  longest  canon  through  which  the  Col- 
orado runs  is  that  between  the  mouth  of  the 
Colorado  Chiquito  and  the  Grand  Wash,  a 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  COLORADO      21 

distance  of  two  hundred  and  seventeen  and 
a  half  miles.  But  this  is  separated  from  an- 
other above,  sixty-five  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  only  by  the  narrow  canon-valley  of 
the  Colorado  Chiquito. 

All  the  scenic  features  of  this  canon  land 
are  on  a  giant  scale,  strange  and  weird.  The 
streams  run  at  depths  almost  inaccessible; 
lashing  the  rocks  which  beset  their  channels ; 
rolling  in  rapids,  and  plunging  in  falls,  and 
making  a  wild  music  which  but  adds  to  the 
gloom  of  the  solitude. 

The  little  valleys  nestling  along  the 
streams  are  diversified  by  bordering  willows, 
clumps  of  box-elder,  and  small  groves  of  Cot- 
tonwood. 

Low  mesaSj  dry  and  treeless,  stretch  back 
from  the  brink  of  the  canon,  often  showing 
smooth  surfaces  of  naked,  solid  rock.  In 
some  places,  the  country  rock  being  com- 
posed of  marls,  the  surface  is  a  bed  of  loose, 
disintegrated  material,  and  you  walk  through 
it  as  in  a  bed  of  ashes.  Often  these  marls 
are  richly  colored  and  variegated.     In  other 


82     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

places,  the  country  rock  is  a  loose  sandstone, 
the  disintegration  of  which  has  left  broad 
stretches  of  drifting  sand,  white,  golden,  and 
vermilion. 

Where  this  sandstone  is  a  conglomerate, 
a  paving  of  pebbles  has  been  left,  a  mosaic 
of  many  colors,  polished  by  the  drifting 
sands,  and  glistening  in  the  sunlight. 

After  the  canons,  the  most  remarkable 
features  of  the  country  are  the  long  lines  of 
cUffs.  These  are  bold  escarpments,  often 
himdreds  or  thousands  of  feet  in  altitude, 
great  geographic  steps,  scores  or  hundreds 
of  miles  in  length,  presenting  steep  faces  of 
rock,  often  quite  vertical. 

Having  climbed  one  of  these  steps,  you 
may  descend  by  a  gentle,  sometimes  imper- 
ceptible, slope  to  the  foot  of  another.  They 
will  thus  present  a  series  of  terraces,  the 
steps  of  which  are  well-defined  escarpments 
of  rock.  The  lateral  extension  of  such  a 
line  of  cliffs  is  usually  very  irregular;  sharp 
salients  are  projected  on  the  plains  below. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  COLORADO      23 

and  deep  recesses  are  cut  into  the  terraces 
above. 

Intermittent  streams  coming  down  the 
cliffs  have  cut  many  canons  or  canon  valleys, 
by  which  the  traveler  may  pass  from  the 
plain  below  to  the  terrace  above.  By  these 
gigantic  stairways,  you  may  ascend  to  high 
plateaus,  covered  with  forests  of  pine  and 
fir. 

The  region  is  further  diversified  by  short 
ranges  of  eruptive  mountains.  A  vast  sys- 
tem of  fissures — ^huge  cracks  in  the  rocks  to 
the  depths  below — extends  across  the  coun- 
try. From  these  crevices,  floods  of  lava 
have  poured,  covering  mesas  and  table-lands 
with  sheets  of  black  basalt.  The  expiring 
energies  of  these  volcanic  agencies  have 
piled  up  huge  cinder-cones,  that  stand  along 
the  fissures,  red,  brown,  and  black,  naked  of 
vegetation,  and  conspicuous  landmarks,  set, 
as  they  are,  in  contrast  to  the  bright,  varie- 
gated rocks  of  sedimentary  origin. 

These   canon   gorges,   obstructing  cliffs 


^4      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

and  desert  wastes,  have  prevented  the  trav- 
eler from  penetrating  the  country,  so  that, 
until  the  Colorado  River  Exploring  Expe- 
dition was  organized,  it  was  almost  unknown. 
Yet  enough  had  been  seen  to  foment  rumor, 
and  many  wonderful  stories  have  been  told 
in  the  hunter's  cabin  and  prospector's  camp. 
Stories  were  related  of  parties  entering  the 
gorge  in  boats,  and  being  carried  down  with 
fearful  velocity  into  whirlpools,  where  all 
were  overwhelmed  in  the  abyss  of  waters; 
others,  of  undergroimd  passages  for  the 
great  river,  into  which  boats  t-^d  passed 
never  to  be  seen  again.  It  was  currently 
believed  that  the  river  was  lost  under  the 
rocks  for  several  hundred  miles.  There 
were  other  accounts  of  great  falls,  whose 
roaring  music  could  be  heard  on  the  distant 
mountain-summits.  There  were  many 
stories  current  of  parties  wandering  on  the 
brink  of  the  canon,  vainly  endeavoring  to 
reach  the  waters  below,  and  perishing  with 
thirst  at  last  in  sight  of  the  river  which  was 
roaring  its  mockery  into  dying  ears. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  COLORADO  ^S 

The  Indians,  too,  have  woven  the  mys- 
teries of  the  canons  into  the  myths  of  their 
rehgion.  Long  ago,  there  was  a  great  and 
wise  chief,  who  mourned  the  death  of  his 
wife,  and  would  not  be  comforted  until  Ta- 
vwoats,  one  of  the  Indian  gods,  came  to  him, 
and  told  him  she  was  in  a  happier  land,  and 
offered  to  take  him  there,  that  he  might  see 
for  himself,  if,  upon  his  return,  he  would 
cease  to  mourn.  The  great  chief  promised. 
Then  Ta-vwoats  made  a  trail  through  the 
mountains  that  intervene  between  that  beau- 
tiful land  and  this,  the  desert  home  of  the 
poor  Nu'-ma. 

This  trail  was  the  canon  gorge  of  the  Col- 
orado. Through  it  he  led  him;  and,  when 
they  had  returned,  the  deity  exacted  from 
the  chief  a  promise  that  he  would  tell  no  one 
of  the  joys  of  that  land,  lest,  through  discon- 
tent with  the  circumstances  of  this  world, 
they  should  desire  to  go  to  heaven.  Then 
he  rolled  a  river  into  the  gorge,  a  mad,  rag- 
ing stream,  that  should  engulf  any  that  might 
attempt  to  enter  thereby. 


^6      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

More  than  once  have  I  been  warned  hy 
the  Indians  not  to  enter  this  canon.  They 
considered  it  disobedience  to  the  gods  and 
contempt  for  their  authority,  and  believed 
that  it  would  surely  bring  upon  me  their 
wrath. 

For  two  years  previous  to  the  exploration, 
I  had  been  making  some  geological  studies 
among  the  heads  of  the  canons  leading  to  the 
Colorado,  and  a  desire  to  explore  the  Grand 
Canon  itself  grew  upon  me.  Early  in  the 
spring  of  1869,  a  small  party  was  organized 
for  this  purpose.  Boats  were  built  in  Chi- 
cago, and  transported  by  rail  to  the  point 
where  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  crosses 
the  Green  River.  With  these  we  were  to 
descend  the  Green  into  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Colorado  down  to  the  foot  of  the  Grand 
Canon, 


CHAPTER  II 

FEOM  GEEEN  EIVER  CITY  TO  FLAMING  GORGE 

MAY  24, 1869.— The  good  people  of 
(Green  River  City  turn  out  to  see 
us  start.  We  raise  our  little  flag, 
push  the  boats  from  shore,  and  the  swift  cur- 
rent carries  us  down. 

Our  boats  are  four  in  number.  Three  are 
built  of  oak;  stanch  and  firm;  double- 
ribbed,  with  double  stem  and  stern  posts, 
and  further  strengthened  by  bulkheads,  di- 
viding each  into  three  compartments. 

Two  of  these,  the  fore  and  aft,  are  decked, 
forming  water-tight  cabins.  It  is  expected 
these  will  buoy  the  boats  should  the  waves 
roll  over  them  in  rough  water.  The  little 
yessels  are  twenty-one  feet  long,  and,  taking 
out  the  cargoes,  can  be  carried  by  four  men. 

tThe  fourth  boat  is  made  of  pine,  very 

27 


28      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

light,  but  sixteen  feet  in  length,  with  a  sharp 
cut-water,  and  every  way  built  for  fast  row- 
ing, and  divided  into  compartments  as  the 
others. 

We  take  with  us  rations  deemed  sufficient 
to  last  ten  months ;  for  we  expect,  when  win- 
ter comes  on  and  the  river  is  filled  with  ice, 
to  lie  over  at  some  point  until  spring  arrives ; 
so  we  take  with  us  abundant  supplies  of 
clothing.  We  have  also  a  large  quantity  of 
ammunition  and  two  or  three  dozen  traps. 
For  the  purpose  of  building  cabins,  repair- 
ing boats,  and  meeting  other  exigencies,  we 
are  supplied  with  axes,  hammers,  saws,  au- 
gers, and  other  tools,  and  a  quantity  of  nails 
and  screws.  For  scientific  work,  we  have 
two  sextants,  four  chronometers,  a  number 
of  barometers,  thermometers,  compasses,  and 
other  instruments. 

The  flour  is  divided  into  three  equal  parts; 
the  meat  and  all  other  articles  of  our  rations 
in  the  same  way.  Each  of  the  larger  boats 
has  an  ax,  hammer,  saw,  auger,  and  other 
tools,  so  that  all  are  loaded  aUke.     We  dis- 


GREEN  RIVER  CITY  1t9 

tribute  the  cargoes  in  this  way,  that  we  may 
not  be  entirely  destitute  of  some  important 
article  should  any  one  of  the  boats  be  lost. 
In  the  small  boat,  we  pack  a  part  of  the  sci- 
entific instruments,  three  guns,  and  three 
small  bundles  of  clothing  only.  In  this,  I 
proceed  in  advance,  to  explore  the  channel. 

J.  C.  Sumner  and  William  H.  Dunn  are 
my  boatmen  in  the  Emma  Dean;*  then 
follows  Kitty  Clyde's  Sister^  manned  by 
W.  H.  PoweU**  and  G.  Y.  Bradley;  next, 
the  No  Name,  with  O.  G.  Howland,  Sen- 
eca Howland,  and  Frank  Goodman;  and  last 
comes  the  Maid  of  the  Canon,  with  W.  R. 
Hawkins  and  Andrew  Hall. 

Our  boats  are  heavily  loaded,  and  only 
with  the  utmost  care  is  it  possible  to  float  in 
the  rough  river  without  shipping  water. 

A  mile  or  two  below  town,  we  run  on  a 
sand-bar.  The  men  jump  into  the  stream, 
and  thus  lighten  the  vessels,  so  that  they 

*  Mrs.  Powell's  maiden  name.     (Ed.) 

**Capt.  Walter  Powell,  the  Major's  youngest  brother. 
Besides  the  two  Powells,  Sumner,  Bradley,  and  Hawkins 
were  ex-soldiers.     (Ed.) 


so     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

drift  over;  and  on  we  go.  In  trying  to 
avoid  a  rock,  an  oar  is  broken  on  one  of  the 
boats,  and,  thus  crippled,  she  strikes.  The 
current  is  swift,  and  she  is  sent  reeling  and 
rocking  into  the  eddy.  In  the  confusion, 
two  others  are  lost  overboard  and  the  men 
seem  quite  discomfited,  much  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  other  members  of  the  party. 

Catching  the  oars  and  starting  again,  the 
boats  are  once  more  borne  down  the  stream 
until  we  land  at  a  small  cottonwood  grove 
on  the  bank,  and  camp  for  noon. 

During  the  afternoon,  we  run  down  to  a 
point  where  the  river  sweeps  the  foot  of  an 
overhanging  cliff,  and  here  we  camp  for  the 
night.  The  sun  is  yet  two  hours  high,  so 
I  climb  the  cliffs,  and  walk  back  among  the 
strangely  carved  rocks  of  the  Green  River 
bad-lands.  These  are  sandstones  and 
shales,  gray  and  buff,  red  and  brown,  blue 
and  black  strata  in  many  alternations,  lying 
nearly  horizontal,  and  almost  without  soil 
and  vegetation.     They  are  very  friable,  and 


GREEN  RIVER  CITY  81 

the  rain  and  streams  have  carved  them 
into  quaint  shapes.  Barren  desolation  is 
stretched  before  me ;  and  yet  there  is  a  beauty 
in  the  scene.  The  fantastic  carving,  imi- 
tating architectural  forms,  and  suggesting 
rude  but  weird  statuary,  with  the  bright  and 
varied  colors  of  the  rocks,  conspire  to  make 
a  scene  such  as  the  dweller  in  verdure-clad 
hills  can  scarcely  appreciate. 

Standing  on  a  high  point,  I  can  look  oflf 
in  every  direction  over  a  vast  landscape,  with 
salient  rocks  and  cliffs  glittering  in  the  even- 
ing Sim.  Dark  shadows  are  settling  in  the 
valleys  and  gulches,  and  the  heights  are  made 
higher  and  the  depths  deeper  by  the  glamour 
and  witchery  of  light  and  shade. 

Away  to  the  south,  the  Uinta  Mountains 
stretch  in  a  long  line ;  high  peaks  thrust  into 
the  sky,  and  snow-fields  glittering  like  lakes 
of  molten  silver;  and  pine-forests  in  somber 
green;  and  rosy  clouds  playing  around  the 
borders  of  huge,  black  masses;  and  heights 
and  clouds,  and  mountains  and  snow-fields, 


32      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

and  forests  and  rock-lands,  are  blended  into 
one  grand  view.  Now  the  sun  goes  down, 
and  I  return  to  camp. 

May  25. — ^We  start  early  this  morning, 
and  run  along  at  a  good  rate  until  about  nine 
o'clock,  when  we  are  brought  up  on  a  grav- 
elly bar.  All  jump  out,  and  help  the  boats 
over  by  main  strength.  Then  a  rain  comes 
on,  and  river  and  clouds  conspire  to  give  us 
a  thorough  drenching.  Wet,  chilled,  and 
tired  to  exhaustion,  we  stop  at  a  cottonwood 
grove  on  the  bank,  build  a  huge  fire,  make 
a  cup  of  coffee,  and  are  soon  refreshed  and 
quite  merry.  When  the  clouds  'get  out  of 
our  sunshine,"  we  start  again.  A  few  miles 
farther  down,  a  flock  of  mountain-sheep  are 
seen  on  a  cliff  to  the  right.  The  boats  are 
quietly  tied  up,  and  three  or  four  men  go 
after  them.  In  the  course  of  two  or  three 
hours,  they  return.  The  cook  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  bringing  down  a  fat  lamb.  The 
unsuccessful  hunters  taunt  him  with  finding 
it  dead;  but  it  is  soon  dressed,  cooked,  and 
eaten,  making  a  fine  four  o'clock  dinner. 


GREEN  RIVER  CITY  3S 

"All  aboard,"  and  down  the  river  for  an- 
other dozen  miles.  On  the  way,  we  pass  the 
mouth  of  Black's  Fork,  a  dirty  little  stream 
that  seems  somewhat  swollen.  Just  below 
its  mouth,  we  land  and  camp. 

May  26. — To-day,  we  pass  several  curi- 
ously-shaped buttes,  standing  between  the 
west  bank  of  the  river  and  the  high  bluffs 
beyond.  These  buttes  are  outHers  of  the 
same  beds  of  rocks  exposed  on  the  faces  of 
the  bluffs;  thinly  laminated  shales  and  sand- 
stones of  many  colors,  standing  above  in 
vertical  cliffs,  and  buttressed  below  with  a 
water-carved  talus;  some  of  them  attain  an 
altitude  of  nearly  a  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  river. 

.We  glide  quietly  down  the  placid  stream 
past  the  carved  cliffs  of  the  mauvaises  terres, 
now  and  then  obtaining  glimpses  of  distant 
mountains.  Occasionally,  deer  are  started 
from  the  glades  among  the  willows ;  and  sev- 
eral wild  geese,  after  a  chase  through  the 
water,  are  shot. 

After  dinner,  we  pass  through  a  short. 


84     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

narrow  canon  into  a  broad  valley;  from  this, 
long,  lateral  valleys  stretch  back  on  either 
side  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

Two  or  three  miles  below,  Henry's  Fort 
enters  from  the  right.  We  land  a  short  dis- 
tance above  the  j  miction,  where  a  cache  of 
instruments  and  rations  was  made  several 
months  ago,  in  a  cave  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff, 
a  distance  back  from  the  river.  Here  it  was 
safe  from  the  elements  and  wild  beasts,  but 
not  from  man.  Some  anxiety  is  felt,  as  we 
have  learned  that  a  party  of  Indians  have 
been  camped  near  it  for  several  weeks.  Our 
fears  are  soon  allayed,  for  we  find  it  all  right. 
Our  chronometer  wheels  are  not  taken  for 
hair  ornaments;  our  barometer  tubes,  for 
beads;  nor  the  sextant  thrown  into  the  river 
as  "bad  medicine,"  as  had  been  predicted. 

Taking  up  our  cache^  we  pass  down  to 
the  foot  of  the  Uinta  Mountains,  and,  in  a 
cold  storm,  go  into  camp. 

The  river  is  running  to  the  south;  the 
mountains  have  an  easterly  and  westerly 
trend  directly  athwart  its  course,  yet  it  glides 


GREEN  RIVER  CITY  dA 

on  in  a  quiet  way  as  if  it  thought  a  mountain 
range  no  formidable  obstruction  to  its  course. 
It  enters  the  range  by  a  flaring,  brilliant,  red 
gorge,  that  may  be  seen  from  the  north  a 
score  of  miles  away. 

The  great  mass  of  the  mountain-ridge 
through  which  the  gorge  is  cut  is  composed 
of  bright  vermilion  rocks;  but  they  are  sur- 
mounted by  broad  bands  of  mottled  buff  and 
gray,  and  these  bands  come  down  with  a  gen- 
tle curve  to  the  water's  edge  on  the  nearer 
slope  of  the  mountain. 

This  is  the  head  of  the  first  canon  we  are 
about  to  explore — ^an  introductory  one  to 
a  series  made  by  the  river  through  this  range. 
We  name  it  Flaming  Gorge.  The  cliflfs  or 
walls  we  find,  on  measurement,  to  be  about 
one  thousand  two  hundred  feet  high. 

May  27. — To-day  it  rains,  and  we  employ 
the  time  in  repairing  one  of  our  barometers, 
which  was  broken  on  the  way  from  New 
lYork.  A  new  tube  has  to  be  put  in;  that  is, 
a  long  glass  tube  has  to  be  filled  with  mer- 
cury four  or  five  inches  at  a  time,  and  each 


36     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

installment  boiled  over  a  spirit-lamp.  It 
is  a  delicate  task  to  do  this  without  breaking 
the  glass;  but  we  have  success,  and  are  ready 
to  measure  the  mountains  once  more. 

May  28. — To-day  we  go  to  the  summit  of 
the  cliff  on  the  left  and  take  observations  for 
altitude,  and  are  variously  employed  in  topo- 
graphic and  geological  work. 

May  29 — This  morning,  Bradley  and  I 
cross  the  river,  and  chmb  more  than  a  thou- 
sand feet  to  a  point  where  we  can  see  the 
stream  sweeping  in  a  long,  beautiful  curve 
through  the  gorge  below.  Turning  and 
looking  to  the  west,  we  can  see  the  valley  of 
Henry's  Fork,  through  which,  for  many 
miles,  the  little  river  flows  in  a  tortuous  chan- 
nel. Cottonwood  groves  are  planted  here 
and  there  along  its  course,  and  between  them 
are  stretches  of  grass  land.  The  narrow 
mountain  valley  is  inclosed  on  either  side  by 
sloping  walls  of  naked  rock  of  many  bright 
colors.  To  the  south  of  the  valley  are  the 
Uintas,  and  the  peaks  of  the  Wasatch  Moun- 
tains can  be  faintly  seen  in  the  far  west.     To 


GREEN  RIVER  CITY  8T 

the  north,  desert  plains,  dotted  here  and  there 
with  curiously  carved  hills  and  buttes,  extend 
to  the  limit  of  vision. 

For  many  years,  this  valley  has  been  the 
home  of  a  number  of  mountaineers,  who 
were  originally  hunters  and  trappers,  living 
with  the  Indians.  Most  of  them  have  one 
or  more  Indian  wives.  They  no  longer 
roam  with  the  nomadic  tribes  in  pursuit  of 
buckskin  or  beaver,  but  have  accumulated 
herds  of  cattle  and  horses,  and  consider  them- 
selves quite  well-to-do.  Some  of  them  have 
built  cabins ;  others  still  live  in  lodges. 

John  Baker  is  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
these  men;  and,  from  our  point  of  view,  we 
can  see  his  lodge  three  or  four  miles  up  the 
river. 

The  distance  from  Green  River  City  to 
Flaming  Gorge  is  sixty-two  miles.  The 
river  runs  between  bluffs,  in  some  places 
standing  so  close  to  each  other  that  no  flood- 
plain  is  seen.  At  such  a  point,  the  river 
might  properly  be  said  to  run  through  a 
canon.     The  bad-lands  on  either  side  are  in- 


S8     iPmST  THROUGH  GRaND  CANYON 

terrupted  here  and  there  by  patches  of 
Artemesia,  or  sage-brush.  Where  there  is 
a  flood-plain  along  either  side  of  the  river, 
a  few  cottonwoods  may  be  seen. 


CHAPTER  III 

FROM  FLAMING  GORGE  TO  THE  GATE  OP 
LODORE 

YOU  must  not  think  of  a  mountain- 
range  as  a  line  of  peaks  standing 
on  a  plain,  but  as  a  broad  plat- 
form many  miles  wide,  from  which  moun- 
tains have  been  carved  by  the  waters.  You 
must  conceive,  too,  that  this  plateau  is  cut 
by  gulches  and  canons  in  many  directions, 
and  that  beautiful  valleys  are  scattered  about 
at  different  altitudes.  The  first  series  of 
canons  we  are  about  to  explore  constitutes  a 
river  channel  through  such  a  range  of  moun- 
tains. The  canon  is  cut  nearly  half-way 
through  the  range,  then  turns  to  the  east, 
and  is  cut  along  the  central  line,  or  axis, 
gradually  crossing  it  to  the  south.  Keep- 
ing this  direction  for  more  than  fifty  miles, 

39 


40     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

it  then  turns  abruptly  to  a  southwest  course, 
and  goes  diagonally  through  the  southern 
slope  of  the  range. 

This  much  we  knew  before  entering,  as 
we  made  a  partial  exploration  of  the  region 
last  fall,  climbing  many  of  its  peaks,  and  in 
a  few  places  reaching  the  brink  of  the  canon 
walls,  and  looking  over  the  precipices,  many 
hundreds  of  feet  high,  to  the  water  below. 

Here  and  there  the  walls  are  broken  by 
lateral  canons,  the  channels  of  little  streams 
entering  the  river;  through  two  or  three  of 
these,  we  f oimd  our  way  down  to  the  Green 
in  early  winter,  and  walked  along  the  low 
water-beach  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs  for  sev- 
eral miles.  Where  the  river  has  this  gen- 
eral easterly  direction,  the  western  part  only 
has  cut  for  itself  a  canon,  while  the  eastern 
has  formed  a  broad  valley,  called,  in  honor 
of  an  old-time  trapper.  Brown's  Park,  and 
long  known  as  a  favorite  winter  resort  for 
moimtain  men  and  Indians. 

May  30. — This  morning  we  are  ready  to 
enter  the  mysterious  canon,  and  start  with 


FLAMING  GORGE  41 

some  anxiety.  The  old  mountaineers  tell  us 
that  it  cannot  be  run;  the  Indians  say,  "Wa- 
ter heap  catch  'em,"  but  all  are  eager  for  the 
trial,  and  off  we  go. 

Entering  Flaming  Gorge,  we  quickly  run 
through  it  on  a  swift  current,  and  emerge 
into  a  little  park.  Half  a  mile  below,  the 
river  wheels  sharply  to  the  left,  and  we 
turn  into  another  canon  cut  into  the  moun- 
tain. We  enter  the  narrow  passage.  On 
either  side,  the  walls  rapidly  increase  in 
altitude.  On  the  left  are  overhanging 
ledges  and  cliffs  five  hundred — a  thousand — 
fifteen  hundred  feet  high. 

On  the  right,  the  rocks  are  broken  and 
ragged,  and  the  water  fills  the  channel  from 
cliff  to  cliff.  Now  the  river  turns  abruptly 
around  a  point  to  the  right,  and  the  waters 
plunge  swiftly  down  among  great  rocks ;  and 
here  we  have  our  first  experience  with  caiion 
rapids.  I  stand  up  on  the  deck  of  my  boat 
to  seek  a  way  among  the  wave  beaten  rocks. 
All  untried  as  we  are  with  such  waters,  the 
moments   are   filled  with  intense   anxiety. 


42     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Soon  our  boats  reach  the  swift  current;  a 
stroke  or  two,  now  on  this  side,  now  on  that, 
and  we  thread  the  narrow  passage  with  ex- 
hilarating velocity,  mounting  the  high  waves, 
whose  foaming  crests  dash  over  us,  and 
plunging  into  the  troughs,  until  we  reach 
the  quiet  water  below;  and  then  comes  a  feel- 
ing of  great  relief.  Our  first  rapid  is  run. 
Another  mile,  and  we  come  into  the  valley 
again. 

Let  me  explain  this  canon.  Where  the 
river  turns  to  the  left  above,  it  takes  a  course 
directly  into  the  mountain,  penetrating  to 
its  very  heart,  then  wheels  back  upon  itself, 
and  runs  out  into  the  valley  from  which  it 
started  only  half  a  mile  below  the  point  at 
which  it  entered ;  so  the  canon  is  in  the  form 
of  an  elongated  letter  U,  with  the  apex  in 
the  center  of  the  moimtain.  We  name  it 
Horseshoe  Canon. 

Soon  we  leave  the  valley,  and  enter  an- 
other short  canon,  very  narrow  at  first,  but 
widening  below  as  the  canon  walls  increase 
in  height.     Here  we  discover  the  mouth  of 


FLAMING  GORGE  48 

a  beautiful  little  creek,  coming  down  through 
its  narrow  water  worn  cleft.  Just  at  its  en- 
trance there  is  a  park  of  two  or  three  hun- 
dred acres,  walled  on  every  side  by  almost 
vertical  cliffs,  hundreds  of  feet  in  altitude, 
with  three  gateways  through  the  walls — one 
up,  another  down  the  river,  and  a  third  pas- 
sage through  which  the  creek  comes  in.  The 
river  is  broad,  deep,  and  quiet,  and  its  waters 
mirror  towering  rocks. 

Kingfishers  are  playing  about  the 
streams,  and  so  we  adopt  as  names  King- 
fisher Creek,  Kingfisher  Park,  and  King- 
fisher Canon.  At  night,  we  camp  at  the  foot 
of  this  canon. 

Our  general  course  this  day  has  been  south, 
but  here  the  river  turns  to  the  east  around 
a  point  which  is  rounded  to  the  shape  of  a 
dome,  and  on  its  sides  little  cells  have  been 
carved  by  the  action  of  the  water;  and  in 
these  pits,  which  cover  the  face  of  the  dome, 
hundreds  of  swallows  have  built  their  nests. 
As  they  flit  about  the  cliffs,  they  look  like 
swarms  of  bees,  giving  to  the  whole  the  ap- 


U     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

pearance  of  a  colossal  beehive  of  the  old  time 
form,  and  so  we  name  it  Beehive  Point. 

The  opposite  wall  is  a  vast  amphitheater, 
rising  in  a  succession  of  terraces  to  a  height 
of  1,200  or  1,500  feet.  Each  step  is  built 
of  red  sandstone,  with  a  face  of  naked,  red 
rock,  and  a  glacis  clothed  with  verdure.  So 
the  amphitheater  seems  banded  red  and 
green,  and  the  evening  sun  is  playing  with 
roseate  flashes  on  the  rocks,  with  shimmering 
green  on  the  cedars'  spray,  and  iridescent 
gleams  on  the  dancing  waves.  The  land- 
scape revels  in  the  sunshine. 

May  31. — ^We  start  down  another  canon, 
and  reach  rapids  made  dangerous  by  high 
rocks  lying  in  the  channel;  so  we  run  ashore, 
and  let  our  boats  down  with  lines.  In  the 
afternoon  we  come  to  more  dangerous  rap- 
ids, and  stop  to  examine  them.  I  find  we 
must  do  the  same  work  again,  but,  being 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  river  to  obtain  a 
foothold,  must  first  cross  over — ^no  very  easy 
matter  in  such  a  current,  with  rapids  and 
rocks  below.     We  take  the  pioneer  boat 


FLAIMING  GORGE  45 

Emma  Dean  over,  and  unload  her  on  the 
bank;  then  she  returns  and  takes  another 
load.  Running  back  and  forth,  she  soon  has 
half  our  cargo  over;  then  one  of  the  larger 
boats  is  manned  and  taken  across,  but  car- 
ried down  almost  to  the  rocks  in  spite  of 
hard  rowing.  The  other  boats  follow  and 
make  the  landing,  and  we  go  into  camp  for 
the  night. 

At  the  foot  of  the  chff  on  this  side,  there 
is  a  long  slope  covered  with  pines;  under 
these  we  make  our  beds,  and  soon  after  sun- 
set are  seeking  rest  and  sleep.  The  cliffs  on 
either  side  are  of  red  sandstone,  and  stretch 
up  toward  the  heavens  2,500  feet.  On  this 
side,  the  long,  pine  clad  slope  is  surmounted 
by  perpendicular  cliifs,  with  pines  on  their 
summits.  The  wall  on  the  other  side  is  bare 
rock  from  the  water's  edge  up  2,000  feet, 
then  slopes  back,  giving  footing  to  pines  and 
cedars. 

As  the  twilight  deepens,  the  rocks  grow 
dark  and  somber;  the  threatening  roar  of 
the  water  is  loud  and  constant,  and  I  lie 


46     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

awake  with  thoughts  of  the  morrow  and  the 
canons  to  come,  interrupted  now  and  then 
by  characteristics  of  the  scenery  that  attract 
my  attention.  And  here  I  make  a  discov- 
ery. On  looking  at  the  mountain  directly 
in  front,  the  steepness  of  the  slope  is  greatly 
exaggerated,  while  the  distance  to  its  sum- 
mit and  its  true  altitude  are  correspondingly 
diminished.  I  have  heretofore  found  that 
to  properly  judge  of  the  slope  of  a  mountain 
side,  you  must  see  it  in  profile.  In  coming 
down  the  river  this  afternoon,  I  observed 
the  slope  of  a  particular  part  of  the  wall, 
and  made  an  estimate  of  its  altitude.  While 
at  supper,  I  noticed  the  same  cliff  from  a 
position  facing  it,  and  it  seemed  steeper,  but 
not  half  as  high.  Now  lying  on  my  side  and 
looking  at  it,  the  true  proportions  appear. 
This  seems  a  wonder,  and  I  rise  up  to  take 
a  view  of  it  standing.  It  is  the  same  cliff 
as  at  supper  time.  Lying  down  again,  it 
is  the  cliff  as  seen  in  profile,  with  a  long  slope 
and  distant  summit.  Musing  on  this,  I  for- 
get "the  morrow  and  the  canons  to  come." 


FLAMING  GORGE  47 

I  find  a  way  to  estimate  the  altitude  and 
slope  of  an  inclination  as  I  can  judge  of 
distance  along  the  horizon.  The  reason  is 
simple.  A  reference  to  the  stereoscope  will 
suggest  it.  The  distance  between  the  eyes 
forms  a  base-line  for  optical  triangulation. 

June  1. — To-day  we  have  an  exciting 
ride.  The  river  rolls  down  the  canon  at  a 
wonderful  rate,  and,  with  no  rocks  in  the 
way,  we  make  almost  railroad  speed.  Here 
and  there  the  water  rushes  into  a  narrow 
gorge;  the  rocks  on  the  side  roll  it  into  the 
center  in  great  waves,  and  the  boats  go  leap- 
ing and  bounding  over  these  like  things  of 
life.  They  remind  me  of  scenes  witnessed 
in  Middle  Park;  herds  of  startled  deer 
bounding  through  forests  beset  with  fallen 
timber.  I  mention  the  resemblance  to  some 
of  the  hunters,  and  so  striking  is  it  that  it 
comes  to  be  a  common  expression,  "See  the 
black-tails  jumping  the  logs."  At  times  the 
waves  break  and  roll  over  the  boats,  which 
necessitates  much  bailing,  and  obliges  us  to 
stop  occasionally  for  that  purpose.     At  one 


48      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

time,  we  run  twelve  miles  an  hour,  stoppages 
included. 

Last  spring,  I  had  a  conversation  with 
an  old  Indian  named  Pa'-ri-ats,  who  told  me 
about  one  of  his  tribe  attempting  to  run 
this  canon.  "The  rocks,"  he  said,  holding 
his  hands  above  his  head,  his  arms  vertical, 
and  looking  between  them  to  the  heavens, 
"the  rocks  h-e-a-p,  h-e-a-p  high;  the  water 
go  h-oo-woogh,  h-oo-woogh;  water-pony 
(boat)  h-e-a-p  buck;  water  catch  'em;  no 
see  'em  Injun  any  more!  no  see  'em  squaw 
any  more!  no  see  'em  pappoose  any  more!" 

Those  who  have  seen  these  wild  Indian 
ponies  rearing  alternately  before  and  behind, 
or  "bucking,"  as  it  is  called  in  the  vernacu- 
lar, will  appreciate  his  description. 

At  last  we  come  to  calm  water,  and  a 
thi-eatening  roar  is  heard  in  the  distance. 
Slowly  approaching  the  point  whence  the 
sound  issues,  we  come  near  to  falls,  and  tie 
up  just  above  them  on  the  left.  Here  we 
will  be  compelled  to  make  a  portage;  so  we 
unload  the  boats,  and  fasten  a  long  line  to 


FLAMING  GORGE  49 

the  bow,  and  another  to  the  stern,  of  the 
smaller  one,  and  moor  her  close  to  the  brink 
of  the  fall.  Then  the  bow-line  is  taken  be- 
low, and  made  fast;  the  stern-line  is  held 
by  five  or  six  men,  and  the  boat  let  down 
as  long  as  they  can  hold  her  against  the 
rushing  waters ;  then,  letting  go  one  end  of 
the  line,  it  runs  through  the  ring;  the  boat 
leaps  over  the  fall,  and  is  caught  by  the  lower 
rope. 

Now  we  rest  for  the  night. 

June  2. — This  morning  we  make  a  trail 
among  the  rocks,  transport  the  cargoes  to  a 
point  below  the  falls,  let  the  remaining  boats 
over,  and  are  ready  to  start  before  noon. 

On  a  high  rock  by  which  the  trail  passes 
we  find  the  inscription:  "Ashley  18-5." 
The  third  figure  is  obscure — some  of  the 
party  reading  it  1835,  some  1855.* 

James  Baker,  an  old  time  mountaineer, 
once  told  me  about  a  party  of  men  starting 

*  General  Ashley,  the  fur  trader,  made  his  last  journey 
Into  the  Far  West  before  1835.  The  man  here  mentioned 
must  have  been  someone  else,  of  the  same  family  name. 
{Ed.)  ^,-/    .:.,_     .    >;r    \/>^^^ 

\ 


60      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

down  the  river,  and  Ashley  was  named  as 
one.  The  story  runs  that  the  boat  was 
swamped,  and  some  of  the  party  drowned 
in  one  of  the  canons  below.  The  word 
"Ashley"  is  a  warning  to  us,  and  we  resolve 
on  great  caution. 

Ashley  Falls  is  the  name  we  give  to  the 
cataract. 

The  river  is  very  narrow;  the  right  wall 
vertical  for  two  or  three  hundred  feet,  the 
left  towering  to  a  great  height,  with  a  vast 
pile  of  broken  rocks  lying  between  the  foot 
of  the  cliff  and  the  water.  Some  of  the 
rocks  broken  down  from  the  ledge  above 
have  tumbled  into  the  channel  and  caused 
this  fall.  One  great  cubical  block,  thirty 
or  forty  feet  high,  stands  in  the  middle  of 
the  stream,  and  the  waters,  parting  to  either 
side,  plunge  down  about  twelve  feet,  and  are 
broken  again  by  the  smaller  rocks  into  a 
rapid  below.  Immediately  below  the  falls, 
the  water  occupies  the  entire  channel,  there 
being  no  talus  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs. 


3FLAMING  GORGE  HI 

We  embark,  and  run  down  a  short  dis- 
tance, where  we  find  a  landing-place  for  din- 
ner. 

On  the  waves  again  all  the  afternoon. 
Near  the  lower  end  of  this  canon,  to  which 
we  have  given  the  name  Red  Canon,  is  a 
little  park,  where  streams  come  down  from 
distant  mountain  summits,  and  enter  the 
river  on  either  side;  and  here  we  camp  for 
the  night  under  two  stately  pines. 

June  3. — This  morning  we  spread  our  ra- 
tions, clothes,  &c.,  on  the  ground  to  dry,  and 
several  of  the  party  go  out  for  a  hunt.  I 
take  a  walk  of  five  or  six  miles  up  to  a  pine 
grove  park,  its  grassy  carpet  bedecked  with 
crimson,  velvet  flowers,  set  in  groups  on  the 
stems  of  pear  shaped  cactus  plants ;  patches 
of  painted  cups  are  seen  here  and  there,  with 
yellow  blossoms  protruding  through  scarlet 
bracts;  little  blue-eyed  flowers  are  peeping 
through  the  grass;  and  the  air  is  filled  with 
fragrance  from  the  white  blossoms  of  a 
Spircea.    A  mountain  brook  runs  through 


62     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  midst,  ponded  below  by  beaver  dams. 
It  is  a  quiet  place  for  retirement  from  the 
raging  waters  of  the  canon. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  com'se  of 
the  river,  from  Flaming  Gorge  to  Beehive 
Point,  is  in  a  southerly  direction,  and  at  right 
angles  to  the  Uinta  Mountains,  and  cuts 
into  the  range  until  it  reaches  a  point  within 
five  miles  of  the  crest,  where  it  turns  to  the 
east,  and  pursues  a  course  not  quite  parallel 
to  the  trend  of  the  range,  but  crosses  the 
axis  slowly  in  a  direction  a  little  south  of 
east.  Thus  there  is  a  triangular  tract  be- 
tween the  river  and  the  axis  of  the  moun- 
tain, with  its  acute  angle  extending  east- 
ward. I  climb  a  mountain  overlooking  this 
country.  To  the  east,  the  peaks  are  not 
very  high,  and  already  most  of  the  snow  has 
melted;  but  little  patches  lie  here  and  there 
under  the  lee  of  ledges  of  rock.  To  the  west, 
the  peaks  grow  higher  and  the  snow  fields 
larger.  Between  the  brink  of  the  canon  and 
the  foot  of  these  peaks,  there  is  a  high  bench. 
A  number  of  creeks  have  their  sources  in 


FLAMING  GORGE  53 

the  snow  banks  to  the  south,  and  run  north 
into  the  canon,  tumbling  down  from  3,000 
to  5,000  feet  in  a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles. 
Along  their  upper  courses,  they  run  through 
grassy  valleys;  but,  as  they  approach  Red 
Canon,  they  rapidly  disappear  under  the 
general  surface  of  the  country,  and  emerge 
into  the  canon  below  in  deep,  dark  gorges 
of  their  own.  Each  of  these  short  lateral 
canons  is  marked  by  a  succession  of  cascades 
and  a  wild  confusion  of  rocks  and  trees  and 
fallen  timber  and  thick  undergrowth. 

The  httle  valleys  above  are  beautiful 
parks;  between  the  parks  are  stately  pine 
forests,  half  hiding  ledges  of  red  sandstone. 
Mule-deer  and  elk  abound;  grizzly  bears,  too, 
are  abundant;  wild  cats,  wolverines,  and 
mountain  lions  are  here  at  home.  The  for- 
est aisles  are  filled  with  the  music  of  birds, 
and  the  parks  are  decked  with  flowers. 
Noisy  brooks  meander  through  them;  ledges 
of  moss-covered  rocks  are  seen;  and  gleam- 
ing in  the  distance  are  the  snow  fields,  and 
the  mountain  tops  are  away  in  the  clouds. 


54j     first  through  GRAND  CANYON 

June  4. — ^We  start  early  and  run  througE 
to  Brown's  Park.  Half  way  down  the  val- 
ley, a  spur  of  a  red  mountain  stretches  across 
the  river,  which  cuts  a  canon  through  it, 
Here  the  walls  are  comparatively  low,  but 
vertical.  A  vast  number  of  swallows  have 
built  their  adohe  houses  on  the  face  of  the 
cliffs,  on  either  side  of  the  river.  The  waters 
are  deep  and  quiet,  but  the  swallows  are 
swift  and  noisy  enough,  sweeping  by  in  their 
curved  paths  through  the  air,  or  chattering 
from  the  rocks.  The  young  birds  stretch 
their  little  heads  on  naked  necks  through  the 
doorways  of  their  mud  houses,  clamoring  for 
food.     They  are  a  noisy  people. 

We  call  this  Swallow  Canon. 

Still  down  the  river  we  glide,  until  an  early 
hour  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  go  into  camp 
imder  a  giant  cottonwood,  standing  on  the 
right  bank,  a  little  way  back  from  the  stream. 
The  party  had  succeeded  in  killing  a  fine  lot 
of  wild  ducks,  and  during  the  afternoon  a 
mess  of  fish  is  taken. 


FLAMING  GORGE  65 

'June  5. — With  one  of  the  men,  I  climb 
a  mountain,  off  on  the  right.  A  long  spur, 
with  broken  ledges  of  rocks,  puts  down  to 
the  river;  and  along  its  course,  or  up  the 
"hog-back,''  as  it  is  called,  I  make  the  ascent. 
Dunn,  who  is  climbing  to  the  same  point,  is 
coming  up  the  gulch.  Two  hours'  hard 
work  has  brought  us  to  the  simimit.  These 
mountains  are  all  verdure  clad ;  pine  and  ce- 
dar forests  are  set  on  green  terraces;  snow 
clad  mountains  are  seen  in  the  distance,  to  the 
west;  the  plains  of  the  upper  Breen  stretch 
out  before  us,  to  the  north,  until  they  are  lost 
in  the  blue  heavens ;  but  half  of  the  river  cleft 
range  intervenes,  and  the  river  itself  is  at 
our  feet. 

This  half  range,  beyond  the  river,  is  com- 
posed of  long  ridges,  nearly  parallel  with 
the  valley.  On  the  farther  ridge,  to  the 
north,  four  creeks  have  their  sources.  These 
cut  through  the  intervening  ridges,  one  of 
which  is  much  higher  than  that  on  which 
they  head,  by  canon  gorges;  then  they  run. 


66      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

with  gentle  curves,  across  the  valley,  their 
banks  set  with  willows,  box-elders,  and  Cot- 
tonwood groves. 

To  the  east,  we  look  up  the  valley  of  the 
iVermilion,  through  which  Fremont  found 
his  path  on  his  way  to  the  great  parks  of 
Colorado. 

The  reading  of  the  barometer  taken,  we 
start  down  in  company,  and  reach  camp  tired 
and  hungry,  which  does  not  abate  one  bit  our 
enthusiasm,  as  we  tell  of  the  day's  work, 
with  its  glory  of  landscape. 

June  6. — At  daybreak,  I  am  awakened 
by  a  chorus  of  birds.  It  seems  as  if  all  the 
feathered  songsters  of  the  region  have  come 
to  the  old  tree.  Several  species  of  warblers, 
woodpeckers,  and  flickers  above,  meadow- 
larks  in  the  grass,  and  wild  geese  in  the  river. 
I  recline  on  my  elbow,  and  watch  a  lark  near 
by,  and  then  awaken  my  bed  fellow,  to  listen 
to  my  Jenny  Lind.  A  morning  concert  for 
me ;  none  of  your  '' matinees f' 

Our  cook  has  been  an  ox-driver,  or  "bull- 
whacker,"  on  the  plains,  in  one  of  those  long 


FLAMING  GORGE  67 

trains  now  no  longer  seen,  and  he  hasn't 
forgotten  his  old  ways.  In  the  midst  of  the 
concert,  his  voice  breaks  in :  "Roll  out !  roll 
out!  bulls  in  the  corral!  chain  up  the  gaps! 
Roll  out !  roll  out !  roll  out !"  And  this  is  our 
breakfast  bell. 

To-day  we  pass  through  the  park,  and 
camp  at  the  head  of  another  canon. 

June  7. — To-day,  two  or  three  of  us  climb 
to  the  summit  of  the  cliff,  on  the  left,  and 
find  its  altitude,  above  camp,  to  be  2,086 
feet.  The  rocks  are  split  with  fissures,  deep 
and  narrow,  sometimes  a  hundred  feet,  or 
more,  to  the  bottom.  Lofty  pines  find  root 
in  the  fissures  that  are  filled  with  loose  earth 
and  decayed  vegetation.  On  a  rock  we  find 
a  pool  of  clear,  cold  water,  caught  from  yes- 
terday evening's  shower.  After  a  good 
drink,  we  walk  out  to  the  brink  of  the  canon, 
and  look  down  to  the  water  below.  I  can 
do  this  now,  but  it  has  taken  several  years 
of  mountain  climbing  to  cool  my  nerves,  so 
that  I  can  sit,  with  my  feet  over  the  edge, 
and  calmly  look  down  a  precipice  2,000  feet. 


58      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

And  yet  I  cannot  look  on  and  see  another 
do  the  same.  I  must  either  bid  him  come 
away,  or  turn  my  head. 

The  canon  walls  are  buttressed  on  a  grand 
scale,  with  deep  alcoves  intervening;  col- 
umned crags  crown  the  cliffs,  and  the  river 
is  rolling  below. 

When  we  return  to  camp,  at  noon,  the 
sun  shines  in  splendor  on  vermilion  walls, 
shaded  into  green  and  gray,  where  the  rocks 
are  lichened  over;  the  river  fills  the  channel 
from  wall  to  wall,  and  the  canon  opens,  hke 
a  beautiful  portal,  to  a  region  of  glory. 

This  evening,  as  I  write,  the  sun  is  going 
down,  and  the  shadows  are  settling  in  the 
canon.  The  vermilion  gleams  and  roseate 
hues,  blending  with  the  green  and  gray  tints, 
are  slowly  changing  to  somber  brown  above, 
and  black  shadows  are  creeping  over  them 
below;  and  now  it  is  a  dark  portal  to  a  region 
of  gloom — the  gateway  through  which  we 
are  to  enter  on  our  voyage  of  exploration  to- 
morrow.    What  shall  we  find? 

The  distance   from  Flaming  Gorge  to 


FLAMING  GORGE  59 

Beehive  Point  is  nine  and  two-thirds  miles. 
Besides,  passing  through  the  gorge,  the  river 
runs  through  Horseshoe  and  Kingfisher 
Canons,  separated  by  short  valleys.  The 
highest  point  on  the  walls,  at  Flaming 
Gorge,  is  1,300  feet  above  the  river.  The 
east  wall,  at  the  apex  of  Horseshoe  Canon, 
is  about  1,600  feet  above  the  water's  edge, 
and,  from  this  point,  the  walls  slope  both  to 
the  head  and  foot  of  the  canon. 

Kingfisher  Canon,  starting  at  the  water's 
edge  above,  steadily  increases  in  altitude  to 
1,200  feet  at  the  foot. 

Red  Canon  is  twenty-five  and  two-thirds 
miles  long,  and  the  highest  walls  are  about 
2,500  feet. 

Brown's  Park  is  a  valley,  bounded  on 
either  side  by  a  mountain  range,  really  an 
expansion  of  the  canon.  The  river,  through 
the  park,  is  thirty-five  and  a  half  miles  long, 
but  passes  through  two  short  canons,  on  its 
way,  where  spurs,  from  the  mountains  on  the 
south,  are  thrust  across  its  course. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE 

JUNE  8. — We  enter  the  canon,  and, 
until  noon,  find  a  succession  of  rap- 
ids, over  which  our  boats  have  to  be 
taken. 

Here  I  must  explain  our  method  of  pro- 
ceeding at  such  places.  The  Emma  Dean 
goes  in  advance;  the  other  boats  follow,  in 
obedience  to  signals.  When  we  approach 
a  rapid,  or  what,  on  other  rivers,  would  often 
be  called  a  fall,  I  stand  on  deck  to  examine 
it,  while  the  oarsmen  back  water,  and  we 
drift  on  as  slowly  as  possible.  If  I  can  see 
a  clear  chute  between  the  rocks,  away  we 
go ;  but  if  the  channel  is  beset  entirely  across, 
we  signal  the  other  boats,  pull  to  land,  and 
I  walk  along  the  shore  for  closer  examina- 
tion.    If  this  reveals  no  clear  channel,  hard 

60 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  61 

work  begins.  We  drop  the  boats  to  the 
very  head  of  the  dangerous  place,  and  let 
them  over  by  lines,  or  make  a  portage,  fre- 
quently carrying  both  boats  and  cargoes  over 
the  rocks,  or,  perhaps,  only  the  cargoes,  if 
it  is  safe  to  let  the  boats  down. 

The  waves  caused  by  such  falls  in  a  river 
differ  much  from  the  waves  of  the  sea.  The 
water  of  an  ocean  wave  merely  rises  and 
falls;  the  form  only  passes  on,  and  form 
chases  form  unceasingly.  A  body  floating 
on  such  waves  merely  rises  and  sinks — does 
not  progress  unless  impelled  by  wind  or  some 
other  power.  But  here,  the  water  of  the 
wave  passes  on,  while  the  form  remains. 
The  waters  plunge  down  ten  or  twenty  feet, 
to  the  foot  of  a  fall;  spring  up  again  in  a 
great  wave;  then  down  and  up,  in  a  series 
of  billows,  that  gradually  disappear  in  the 
more  quiet  waters  below;  but  these  waves 
are  always  there,  and  you  can  stand  above 
and  count  them. 

A  boat  riding  such,  leaps  and  plunges 
along  with  great  velocity.     Now,  the  diffi- 


62      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

culty  in  riding  over  these  falls,  when  the 
rocks  are  out  of  the  way,  is  in  the  first  wave 
at  the  foot.  This  will  sometimes  gather  for 
a  moment,  heaping  up  higher  and  higher, 
until  it  breaks  back.  If  the  boat  strikes  it 
the  instant  after  it  breaks,  she  cuts  through, 
and  the  mad  breaker  dashes  its  spray  over 
the  boat,  and  would  wash  us  overboard  did 
we  not  cling  tight.  If  the  boat,  in  going 
over  the  falls,  chances  to  get  caught  in  some 
side  ciu-rent,  and  is  turned  from  its  course, 
so  as  to  strike  the  wave  "broadside  on,"  and 
the  wave  breaks  at  the  same  instant,  the  boat 
is  capsized.  Still,  we  must  cling  to  her,  for, 
the  water  tight  compartments  acting  as 
buoys,  she  cannot  sink;  and  so  we  go, 
dragged  through  the  waves,  until  still  waters 
are  reached.  We  then  right  the  boat,  and 
climb  aboard.  We  have  several  such  experi- 
ences to-day. 

At  night,  we  camp  on  the  right  bank,  on 
a  little  shelving  rock,  between  the  river  and 
the  foot  of  the  cliff;  and  with  night  comes 
gloom  into  these  great  depths. 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  63 

After  supper,  we  sit  by  our  camp  fire, 
made  of  drift  wood  caught  by  the  rocks,  and 
tell  stories  of  wild  life;  for  the  men  have 
seen  such  in  the  mountains,  or  on  the  plains, 
and  on  the  battle  fields  of  the  South.  It  is 
late  before  we  spread  our  blankets  on  the 
beach. 

Lying  down,  we  look  up  through  the 
canon,  and  see  that  only  a  little  of  the  blue 
heaven  appears  overhead — a  crescent  of  blue 
sky,  with  two  or  three  constellations  peering 
down  upon  us. 

I  do  not  sleep  for  some  time,  as  the  ex- 
citement of  the  day  has  not  worn  off.  Soon 
I  see  a  bright  star,  that  appears  to  rest  on 
the  very  verge  of  the  cliff  overhead  to  the 
east.  Slowly  it  seems  to  float  from  its  rest- 
ing place  on  the  rock  over  the  canon.  At 
first,  it  appears  like  a  jewel  set  on  the  brink 
of  the  cliff;  but,  as  it  moves  out  from  the 
rock,  I  almost  wonder  that  it  does  not  fall. 
In  fact,  it  does  seem  to  descend  in  a  gentle 
curve,  as  though  the  bright  sky  in  which  the 
stars  are  set  was  spread  across  the  canon. 


64      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

resting  on  either  wall,  and  swayed  down  by 
its  own  weight.  The  stars  appear  to  be  in 
the  canon.  I  soon  discover  that  it  is  the 
bright  star  Vega,  so  it  occurs  to  me  to  desig- 
nate this  part  of  the  wall  as  the  "Cliff  of  the 
Harp." 

June  9. — One  of  the  party  suggests  that 
we  call  this  the  Canon  of  Lodore,  and  the 
name  is  adopted.  Very  slowly  we  make  our 
way,  often  climbing  on  the  rocks  at  the  edge 
of  the  water  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  to 
examine  the  channel  before  running  it. 

During  the  afternoon,  we  come  to  a  place 
where  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  portage.  The 
little  boat  is  landed,  and  the  others  are  sig- 
naled to  come  up. 

When  these  rapids  or  broken  falls  occur, 
usually  the  channel  is  suddenly  narrowed  by 
rocks  which  have  been  tumbled  from  the 
cliffs  or  have  been  washed  in  by  lateral 
streams.  Immediately  above  the  narrow, 
rocky  channel,  on  one  or  both  sides,  there  is 
often  a  bay  of  quiet  water,  in  which  we  can 
land  with  ease.     Sometimes  the  water  de- 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  65 

scends  with  a  smooth,  unruffled  surface, 
from  the  broad,  quiet  spread  above,  into  the 
narrow,  angry  channel  below,  by  a  semicir- 
cular sag.  Great  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  pass  over  the  brink  into  this  deceptive 
pit,  but  above  it  we  can  row  with  safety.  I 
walk  along  the  bank  to  examine  the  ground, 
leaving  one  of  my  men  with  a  flag  to  guide 
the  other  boats  to  the  landing-place.  I  soon 
see  one  of  the  boats  make  shore  all  right  and 
feel  no  more  concern;  but  a  minute  after, 
I  hear  a  shout,  and  looking  around,  see  one 
of  the  boats  shooting  down  the  center  of  the 
sag.  It  is  the  No  Name,  with  Captain  How- 
land,  his  brother,  and  Goodman.  I  feel 
that  its  going  over  is  inevitable,  and  run  to 
save  the  third  boat.  A  minute  more,  and 
she  turns  the  point  and  heads  for  the  shore. 
Then  I  turn  down  stream  again,  and  scram- 
ble along  to  look  for  the  boat  that  has  gone 
over.  The  first  fall  is  not  great,  only  ten 
or  twelve  feet,  and  we  often  run  such;  but 
below,  the  river  tumbles  down  again  for  forty 
or  fifty  feet,  in  a  channel  filled  with  danger- 


66     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ous  rocks  that  break  the  waves  into  whirl- 
pools and  beat  them  into  foam.  I  pass 
around  a  great  crag  just  in  time  to  see  the 
boat  strike  a  rock,  and,  rebounding  from  the 
shock,  careen  and  fill  the  open  compartment 
with  water.  Two  of  the  men  lose  their  oars ; 
she  swings  around,  and  is  carried  down  at 
a  rapid  rate,  broadside  on,  for  a  few  yards, 
and  strikes  amidships  on  another  rock  with 
great  force,  is  broken  quite  in  two,  and  the 
men  are  thrown  into  the  river;  the  larger 
part  of  the  boat  floating  buoyantly,  they 
soon  seize  it,  and  down  the  river  they  drift, 
past  the  rocks  for  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a 
second  rapid,  filled  with  huge  boulders,  where 
the  boat  strikes  again,  and  is  dashed  to  pieces, 
and  the  men  and  fragments  are  soon  carried 
beyond  my  sight.  Running  along,  I  turn 
a  bend,  and  see  a  man's  head  above  the  water, 
washed  about  in  a  whirlpool  below  a  great 
rock. 

It  is  Frank  Goodman,  clinging  to  it  witK 
a  grip  upon  which  life  depends.  Coming 
opposite,  I  see  Howland  trying  to  go  to  his 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  67 

aid  from  an  island  on  which  he  has  Keen 
washed.  Soon,  he  comes  near  enough  to 
reach  Frank  with  a  pole,  which  he  extends 
toward  him.  The  latter  lets  go  the  rock, 
grasps  the  pole,  and  is  pulled  ashore.  Sen- 
eca Howland  is  washed  farther  down  the 
island,  and  is  caught  by  some  rocks,  and, 
though  somewhat  bruised,  manages  to  get 
ashore  in  safety.  This  seems  a  long  time, 
as  I  tell  it,  but  it  is  quickly  done. 

And  now  the  three  men  are  on  an  island, 
with  a  swift,  dangerous  river  on  either  side, 
and  a  fall  below.  The  Emma  Dean  is  soon 
brought  down,  and  Sumner,  starting  above 
as  far  as  possible,  pushes  out.  Right  skill- 
fully he  plies  the  oars,  and  a  few  strokes  set 
him  on  the  island  at  the  proper  point.  Then 
they  all  pull  the  boat  up  stream,  as  far  as 
they  are  able,  until  they  stand  in  water  up 
to  their  necks.  One  sits  on  a  rock,  and  holds 
the  boat  until  the  others  are  ready  to  pull, 
then  gives  the  boat  a  push,  clings  to  it  with 
his  hands,  and  climbs  in  as  they  pull  for 
mainland,  which  they  reach  in  safety.     We 


68      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

are  as  glad  to  shake  hands  with  them  as 
though  they  had  been  on  a  voyage  around 
the  world,  and  wrecked  on  a  distant  coast. 

Down  the  river  half  a  mile  we  find  that 
the  after  cabin  of  the  wrecked  boat,  with  a 
part  of  the  bottom,  ragged  and  splintered, 
has  floated  against  a  rock,  and  stranded. 
There  are  valuable  articles  in  the  cabin;  but, 
on  examination,  we  determine  that  life 
should  not  be  risked  to  save  them.  Of 
course,  the  cargo  of  rations,  instruments,  and 
clothing  is  gone. 

We  return  to  the  boats,  and  make  camp 
for  the  night.  No  sleep  comes  to  me  in  all 
those  dark  hours.  The  rations,  instruments, 
and  clothing  have  been  divided  among  the 
boats,  anticipating  such  an  accident  as  this; 
and  we  started  with  duplicates  of  everything 
that  was  deemed  necessary  to  success.  But, 
in  the  distribution,  there  was  one  exception 
to  this  precaution,  and  the  barometers  were 
all  placed  in  one  boat,  and  they  are  lost. 
There  is  a  possibility  that  they  are  in  the 
cabin  lodged  against  the  rock,  for  that  is 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  69 

where  they  were  kept.  But,  then,  how  to 
reach  them !  The  river  is  rising.  Will  they 
be  there  to-morrow?  Can  I  go  out  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  obtain  barometers  from  New 
York? 

June  10. — I  have  determined  to  get  the 
barometers  from  the  wreck,  if  they  are  there. 
After  breakfast,  while  the  men  make  the 
portage,  I  go  down  again  for  another  ex- 
amination. There  the  cabin  lies,  only  car- 
ried fifty  or  sixty  feet  farther  on. 

Carefully  looking  over  the  ground,  I  am 
satisfied  that  it  can  be  reached  with  safety, 
and  return  to  tell  the  men  my  conclusion. 
Sumner  and  Dunn  volunteer  to  take  the  lit- 
tle boat  and  make  the  attempt.  They  start, 
reach  it,  and  out  come  the  barometers;  and 
now  the  boys  set  up  a  shout,  and  I  join  them, 
pleased  that  they  should  be  as  glad  to  save 
the  instruments  as  mj^self .  When  the  boat 
lands  on  our  side,  I  find  that  the  only  things 
saved  from  the  wreck  were  the  barometers, 
a  package  of  thermometers,  and  a  three  gal- 
lon keg  of  whisky,  which  is  what  the  men 


•yd     iriRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

were  shouting  about.  They  Had  taken  it 
aboard,  unknown  to  me,  and  now  I  am  glad 
they  did,  for  they  think  it  will  do  them  good, 
as  they  are  drenched  every  day  by  the  melt- 
ing snow,  which  runs  down  the  summits  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Now  we  come  back  to  our  work  at  the 
portage.  We  find  that  it  is  necessary  to 
carry  our  rations  over  the  rocks  for  nearly 
a  mile,  and  let  our  boats  down  with  lines,  ex- 
cept at  a  few  points,  where  they  also  must  be 
carried. 

Between  the  river  and  the  eastern  wall 
of  the  canon  there  is  an  immense  talus  of 
broken  rocks.  These  have  tumbled  down 
from  the  cliffs  above,  and  constitute  a  vast 
pile  of  huge  angular  fragments.  On  these 
we  build  a  path  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  to  a 
small  sand  beach  covered  with  drift-wood, 
through  which  we  clear  a  way  for  several 
hxmdred  yards,  then  continue  the  trail  on 
over  another  pile  of  rocks,  nearly  half  a  mile 
farther  down,  to  a  little  bay.  The  greater 
part  of  the  day  is  spent  in  this  work'.     Then 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  71 

we  carry  our  cargoes  down  to  the  beach  and 
camp  for  the  night. 

While  the  men  are  building  the  camp  fire, 
we  discover  an  iron  bake  oven,  several  tin 
plates,  a  part  of  a  boat,  and  many  other 
fragments,  which  denote  that  this  is  the  place 
where  Ashley's  party  was  wrecked. 

June  11. — This  day  is  spent  in  carrying 
our  rations  down  to  the  bay — no  small  task 
to  climb  over  the  rocks  with  sacks  of  flour 
or  bacon.  We  carry  them  by  stages  of 
about  500  yards  each,  and  when  night  comes, 
and  the  last  sack  is  on  the  beach,  we  are  tired, 
bruised,  and  glad  to  sleep. 

June  12. — To-day  we  take  the  boats  down 
to  the  bay.  While  at  this  work,  we  discover 
three  sacks  of  flour  from  the  wrecked  boat, 
that  have  lodged  in  the  rocks.  We  carry 
them  above  high- water  mark,  and  leave  them, 
as  our  cargoes  are  already  too  heavy  for  the 
three  remaining  boats.  We  also  find  two 
or  three  oars,  which  we  place  with  them. 

As  Ashley  and  his  party  were  wrecked 
here,  and  as  we  have  lost  one  of  our  boats  at 


7a     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  same  place,  we  adopt  the  name  Disaster 
Falls  for  the  scene  of  so  much  peril  and  loss. 
Though  some  of  his  companions  were 
drowned,  Ashley  and  one  other  survived  the 
wreck,  climbed  the  canon  wall,  and  found 
their  way  across  the  Wasatch  Mountains  to 
Salt  Lake  City,  living  chiefly  on  berries,  as 
they  wandered  through  an  unknown  and  dif- 
ficult country.  When  they  arrived  at  Salt 
Lake,  they  were  almost  destitute  of  cloth- 
ing, and  nearly  starved.  The  Mormon  peo- 
ple gave  them  food  and  clothing,  and  em- 
ployed them  to  work  on  the  foundation  of  the 
Temple,  until  they  had  earned  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  leave  the  country.  Of  their 
subsequent  history,  I  have  no  knowledge. 
It  is  possible  they  returned  to  the  scene  of 
the  disaster,  as  a  little  creek  entering  the 
river  below  is  known  as  Ashley's  Creek,  and 
it  is  reported  that  he  built  a  cabin  and 
trapped  on  this  river  for  one  or  two  win- 
ters ;  but  this  may  have  been  before  the  dis- 
aster. 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  7S 

June  13. — Still  rocks,  rapids,  and  por- 
tages. 

We  camp  to-night  at  the  foot  of  the  left 
wall  on  a  little  patch  of  flood-plain  covered 
with  a  dense  growth  of  box-elders,  stopping 
early  in  order  to  spread  the  clothing  and 
rations  to  dry.  Everything  is  wet  and 
spoiling. 

June  14. — Howland  and  I  climb  the  wall, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  canon,  to  an  altitude 
of  2,000  feet.  Standing  above,  and  look- 
ing to  the  west,  we  discover  a  large  park, 
five  or  six  miles  wide  and  twenty  or  thirty 
long.  The  cliff  we  have  climbed  forms  a 
wall  between  the  canon  and  the  park,  for 
it  is  800  feet,  down  the  western  side,  to  the 
valley.  A  creek  comes  winding  down,  1,200 
feet  above  the  river,  and,  entering  the  inter- 
vening wall  by  a  caiion,  it  plunges  down, 
more  than  a  thousand  feet,  by  a  broken  cas- 
cade, into  the  river  below. 

June  15. — To-day,  while  we  make  an- 
other portage,  a  peak,  standing  on  the  east 


74     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

wall,  is  climbed  by  two  of  the  men,  and 
fomid  to  be  2,700  feet  above  the  river.  On 
the  east  side  of  the  canon,  a  vast  amphithe- 
ater has  been  cut,  with  massive  buttresses, 
and  deep,  dark  alcoves,  in  which  grow  beau- 
tiful mosses  and  delicate  ferns,  while  springs 
burst  out  from  the  further  recesses,  and 
wind,  in  silver  threads,  over  floors  of  sand 
rock.  Here  we  have  three  falls  in  close 
succession.  At  the  first,  the  water  is  com- 
pressed into  a  very  narrow  channel,  against 
the  right-hand  cliff,  and  falls  fifteen  feet 
in  ten  yards ;  at  the  second,  we  have  a  broad 
sheet  of  water,  tumbling  down  twenty  feet 
over  a  group  of  rocks  that  thrust  their  dark 
heads  through  the  foaming  waters.  The 
third  is  a  broken  fall,  or  short,  abrupt  rapid, 
where  the  water  makes  a  descent  of  more 
than  twenty  feet  among  huge,  fallen  frag- 
ments of  the  cliff,  .We  name  the  group 
Triplet  Falls. 

W^  make  a  portage  around  the  first;  past 
the  second  and  third  we  let  down  with  lines. 
,     During  the  afternoon,  Dunn  and  How- 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  Sffi 

land,  having  returned  from  their  climB,  we 
run  down,  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  on  quiet 
water,  and  land  at  the  head  of  another  fall. 
On  examination,  we  find  that  there  is  an 
abrupt  plunge  of  a  few  feet,  and  then  the 
river  tumbles,  for  half  a  mile,  with  a  descent 
of  a  hundred  feet,  in  a  channel  beset  with 
great  nimibers  of  huge  boulders.  This 
stretch  of  the  river  is  named  Hell's  Half- 
Mile. 

The  remaining  portion  of  the  day  is  oc- 
cupied in  making  a  trail  among  the  rocks  to 
the  foot  of  the  rapid. 

June  16. — Our  first  work  this  morning 
is  to  carry  our  cargoes  to  the  foot  of  the 
falls.  Then  we  commence  letting  down  the 
boats.  We  take  two  of  them  down  in 
safety,  but  not  without  great  difiiculty;  for, 
where  such  a  vast  body  of  water,  rolling 
down  an  inclined  plane,  is  broken  into  ed- 
dies and  cross  currents  by  rocks  projecting 
from  the  cliffs  and  piles  of  boulders  in  the 
channel,  it  requires  excessive  labor  and  much 
care  to  prevent  their  being  dashed  against 


T6     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  rocks  or  breaking  away.  Sometimes  we 
are  compelled  to  hold  the  boat  against  a 
rock,  above  a  chute,  until  a  second  line,  at- 
tached to  the  stem,  is  carried  to  some  point 
below,  and,  when  all  is  ready,  the  first  line 
is  detached,  and  the  boat  given  to  the  cur- 
rent, when  she  shoots  down,  and  the  men  be- 
low swing  her  into  some  eddy. 

At  such  a  place,  we  are  letting  down  the 
last  boat,  and,  as  she  is  set  free,  a  wave 
turns  her  broadside  down  the  stream,  with 
the  stem,  to  which  the  line  is  attached,  from 
shore,  and  a  little  up.  They  haul  on  the 
line  to  bring  the  boat  in,  but  the  power  of 
the  current,  striking  obliquely  against  her, 
shoots  her  out  into  the  middle  of  the  river. 
The  men  have  their  hands  burned  with  the 
friction  of  the  passing  line;  the  boat  breaks 
away,  and  speeds,  with  great  velocity,  down 
the  stream. 

The  Maid  of  the  Canon  is  lost,  so  it 
seems;  but  she  drifts  some  distance,  and 
swings  into  an  eddy,  in  which  she  spins 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  T? 

about,  until  we  arrive  with  the  small  boat, 
and  rescue  her. 

Soon  we  are  on  our  way  again,  and  stop 
at  the  mouth  of  a  little  brook,  on  the  right, 
for  a  late  dinner.  This  brook  comes  down 
from  the  distant  mountains,  in  a  deep  side 
canon.  We  set  out  to  explore  it,  but  are 
soon  cut  off  from  farther  progress  up  the 
gorge  by  a  high  rock,  over  which  the  brook 
glides  in  a  smooth  sheet.  The  rock  is  not 
quite  vertical,  and  the  water  does  not  plunge 
over  in  a  fall. 

Then  we  climb  up  to  the  left  for  an  hour, 
and  are  a  thousand  feet  above  the  river,  and 
six  hundred  above  the  brook.  Just  before 
us,  the  canon  divides,  a  little  stream  coming 
down  on  the  right,  and  another  on  the  left, 
and  we  can  look  away  up  either  of  these  can- 
ons, through  an  ascending  vista,  to  cliffs  and 
crags  and  towers,  a  mile  back,  and  two  thou- 
sand feet  overhead.  To  the  right,  a  dozen 
gleaming  cascades  are  seen.  Pines  and  firs 
stand  on  the  rocks  and  aspens  overhang  the 


78      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

brooks.  The  rocks  below  are  red  and 
brown,  set  in  deep  shadows,  but  above,  they 
are  buff  and  vermilion,  and  stand  in  the 
sunshine.  The  light  above,  made  more  bril- 
liant by  the  bright-tinted  rocks,  and  the 
shadows  below  more  gloomy  by  the  somber 
hues  of  the  brown  walls,  increase  the  ap- 
parent depths  of  the  canons,  and  it  seems  a 
long  way  up  to  the  world  of  sunshine  and 
open  sky,  and  a  long  way  down  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  canon  glooms.  Never  before 
have  I  received  such  an  impression  of  the 
vast  heights  of  these  canon  walls;  not  even 
at  the  Cliff  of  the  Harp,  where  the  very 
heavens  seemed  to  rest  on  their  summits. 

We  sit  on  some  overhanging  rocks,  and 
enjoy  the  scene  for  a  time,  listening  to  the 
music  of  falling  waters  away  up  the  canons. 
We  name  this  Rippling  Brook. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  make  a  short 
run  to  the  mouth  of  another  little  creek, 
coming  down  from  the  left  into  an  alcove 
filled  with  luxuriant  vegetation.  Here 
camp  is  made  with  a  group  of  cedars  on  one 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  79 

side  and  a  dense  mass  of  box-elders  and  dead 
willows  on  the  other. 

I  go  up  to  explore  the  alcove.  While 
away  a  whirlwind  comes,  scattering  the  fire 
among  the  dead  willows  and  cedar-spray, 
and  soon  there  is  a  conflagration.  The 
men  rush  for  the  boats,  leaving  all  they  can- 
not readily  seize  at  the  moment,  and  even 
then  they  have  their  clothing  burned  and 
hair  singed,  and  Bradley  has  his  ears 
scorched.  The  cook  fills  his  arms  with  the 
mess-kit,  and,  jumping  into  a  boat,  stum- 
bles and  falls,  and  away  go  our  cooking 
utensils  into  the  river.  Our  plates  are  gone ; 
our  spoons  are  gone;  our  knives  and  forks 
are  gone.  "Water  catch  'em;  h-e-a-p  catch 
em. 

When  on  the  boats,  the  men  are  compelled 
to  cut  loose,  as  the  flames,  running  out  on 
the  overhanging  willows,  are  scorching 
them.  Loose  on  the  stream,  they  must  go 
down,  for  the  water  is  too  swift  to  make 
headway  against  it.  Just  below  is  a  rapid, 
filled  with  rocks.    On  they  shoot,  no  chan- 


80      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

nel  explored,  no  signal  to  guide  them.  Just 
at  this  juncture  I  chance  to  see  them,  but 
have  not  yet  discovered  the  fire,  and  the 
strange  movements  of  the  men  fill  me  with 
astonishment.  Down  the  rocks  I  clamber, 
and  run  to  the  bank.  When  I  arrive,  they 
have  landed.  Then  we  all  go  back  to  the 
late  camp  to  see  if  anything  left  behind  can 
be  saved.  Some  of  the  clothing  and  bed- 
ding taken  out  of  the  boats  is  found,  also 
a  few  tin  cups,  basins,  and  a  camp  kettle, 
and  this  is  all  the  mess  kit  we  now  have. 
Yet  we  do  just  as  well  as  ever. 

June  17. — We  run  down  to  the  mouth 
of  Yampa  River.  This  has  been  a  chapter 
of  disasters  and  toils,  notwithstanding 
which  the  Canon  of  Lodore  was  not  devoid 
of  scenic  interest,  even  beyond  the  power 
of  pen  to  tell.  The  roar  of  its  waters  was 
heard  unceasingly  from  the  hour  we  entered 
it  until  we  landed  here.  No  quiet  in  all 
that  time.  But  its  walls  and  cliffs,  its  peaks 
and  crags,  its  amphitheaters  and  alcoves,  tell 


THE  CANYON  OF  LODORE  81 

a  story  of  beauty  and  grandeur  that  I  hear 
yet — and  shall  hear. 

The  Canon  of  Lodore  is  twenty  and  three- 
quarter  miles  in  length.  It  starts  abruptly 
at  what  we  have  called  the  Gate  of  Lodore, 
with  walls  nearly  two  thousand  feet  high,  and 
they  are  never  lower  than  this  until  we  reach 
Alcove  Brook,  about  three  miles  above  the 
foot.  They  are  very  irregular,  standing  in 
vertical  or  overhanging  cliffs  in  places,  ter- 
raced in  others,  or  receding  in  steep  slopes, 
and  are  broken  by  many  side  gulches 
and  canons.  The  highest  point  on  the  wall 
is  at  Dunn's  Cliff,  near  Triplet  Falls, 
where  the  rocks  reach  an  altitude  of  2,700 
feet,  but  the  peaks  a  little  way  back  rise 
nearly  a  thousand  feet  higher.  Yellow 
pines,  nut  pines,  firs,  and  cedars  stand  in 
extensive  forests  on  the  Uinta  Mountains, 
and,  clinging  to  the  rocks  and  growing  in 
the  crevices,  come  down  the  walls  to  the 
water's  edge  from  Flaming  Gorge  to  Echo 


82     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Park.  The  red  sandstones  are  liehened 
over;  delicate  mosses  grow  in  the  moist 
places,  and  ferns  festoon  the  walls. 


CHAPTER  y 

FROM   ECHO  PARK   TO   THE   MOUTH   OE  THE 
UINTA  RIVER 

THE  Yampa  enters  the  Green  from 
the  east.  At  a  point  opposite  its 
mouth,  the  Green  runs  to  the  south, 
at  the  foot  of  a  rock,  about  seven  hun- 
dred feet  high  and  a  mile  long,  and  then 
turns  sharply  around  it  to  the  right,  and 
runs  back  in  a  northerly  course,  parallel  to 
its  former  direction,  for  nearly  another  mile, 
thus  having  the  opposite  sides  of  a  long, 
narrow  rock  for  its  bank.  The  tongue  of 
rock  so  formed  is  a  peninsular  precipice, 
with  a  mural  escarpment  along  its  whole 
course  on  the  east,  but  broken  down  at 
places  on  the  west. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the 
rock,  and  below  the  Yampa,  there  is  a  little 

83 


84     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

park,  just  large  enough  for  a  farm,  already; 
fenced  with  high  walls  of  gray  homogeneous 
standstone.  There  are  three  river  en- 
trances to  this  park:  one  down  the  Yampa; 
one  below,  by  coming  up  the  Green;  and 
another  down  the  Green.  There  is  also  a 
land  entrance  down  a  lateral  canon.  Else- 
where the  park  is  inaccessible.  Through  this 
land-entrance  by  the  side  canon  there  is  a 
trail  made  by  Indian  hunters,  who  come 
down  here  in  certain  seasons  to  kill  moun- 
tain sheep. 

Great  hollow  domes  are  seen  in  the  east- 
ern side  of  the  rock,  against  which  the  Green 
sweeps;  willows  border  the  river;  clumps  of 
box-elder  are  seen;  and  a  few  cottonwoods 
stand  at  the  lower  end.  Standing  opposite 
the  rock,  our  words  are  repeated  with  start- 
ling clearness,  but  in  a  soft,  mellow  tone, 
that  transforms  them  into  magical  music. 
Scarcely  can  you  beheve  it  is  the  echo  of 
your  own  voice.  In  some  places  two  or 
three  echoes  come  back;  in  other  places  they; 
repeat  themselves,  passing  back  and  forth 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       85 

across  the  river  between  this  rock  and  the 
eastern  wall. 

To  hear  these  repeated  echoes  well  you 
must  shout.  Some  of  the  party  aver  that 
ten  or  twelve  repetitions  can  be  heard.  To 
me,  they  seem  to  rapidly  diminish  and  merge 
by  multiplicity,  like  telegraph  poles  on  an 
outstretched  plain.  I  have  observed  the 
same  phenomenon  once  before  in  the  cliffs 
near  Long's  Peak,  and  am  pleased  to  meet 
with  it  again. 

During  the  afternoon,  Bradley  and  I 
climb  some  cliffs  to  the  north.  Mountain 
sheep  are  seen  above  us,  and  they  stand  out 
on  the  rocks,  and  eye  us  intently,  not  seem- 
ing to  move.  Their  color  is  much  like  that 
of  the  gray  sandstone  beneath  them,  and, 
inmiovable  as  they  are,  they  appear  like 
carved  forms.  Now  a  fine  ram  beats  the 
rock  with  his  front  foot,  and,  wheeling 
around,  they  all  bound  away  together,  leap- 
ing over  rocks  and  chasms,  and  climbing 
walls  where  no  man  can  follow,  and  this 
with  an  ease  and  gracefulness  most  wonder- 


86     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ful.  At  night  we  return  to  our  camp,  un- 
der the  box-elders,  by  the  river  side.  Here 
we  are  to  spend  two  or  three  days,  making 
a  series  of  astronomic  observations  for  lati- 
tude and  longitude. 

June  18. — ^We  have  named  the  long  pe- 
ninsular rock  on  the  other  side  Echo  Rock. 
Desiring  to  climb  it,  Bradley  and  I  take 
the  little  boat  and  pull  up  stream  as  far  as 
possible,  for  it  cannot  be  climbed  directly 
opposite.  We  land  on  a  talus  of  rocks  at 
the  upper  end,  to  reach  a  place  where  it 
seems  practicable  to  make  the  ascent;  but 
we  must  go  still  farther  up  the  river.  So 
we  scramble  along,  until  we  reach  a  place 
where  the  river  sweeps  against  the  wall. 
Here  we  find  a  shelf,  along  which  we  can 
pass,  and  now  are  ready  for  the  climb. 

We  start  up  a  gulch;  then  pass  to  the 
left,  on  a  bench,  along  the  wall;  then  up 
again,  over  broken  rocks;  then  we  reach 
more  benches,  along  which  we  walk,  until 
we  find  more  broken  rocks  and  crevices,  by 
which  we  climb  still  up,  until  we  have  as- 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       87 

cended  six  or  eight  hundred  feet;  then  we 
are  met  by  a  sheer  precipice. 

Looking  about,  we  find  a  place  where  it 
seems  possible  to  climb.  I  go  ahead ;  Brad- 
ley hands  the  barometer  to  me,  and  follows. 
So  we  proceed,  stage  by  stage,  until  we  are 
nearly  to  the  summit.  Here,  by  making  a 
spring,  I  gain  a  foothold  in  a  little  crevice, 
and  grasp  an  angle  of  the  rock  overhead. 
I  find  I  can  get  up  no  farther,  and  cannot 
step  back,  for  I  dare  not  let  go  with  my 
hand,  and  cannot  reach  foot-hold  below 
without.*  I  call  to  Bradley  for  help.  He 
finds  a  way  by  which  he  can  get  to  the  top 
of  the  rock  over  my  head,  but  cannot  reach 
me.  Then  he  looks  around  for  some  stick 
or  limb  of  a  tree,  but  finds  none.  Then 
he  suggests  that  he  had  better  help  me  with 
the  barometer  case ;  but  I  fear  I  cannot  hold 
on  to  it.  The  moment  is  critical.  Stand- 
ing on  my  toes,  my  muscles  begin  to  trem- 
ble. It  is  sixty  or  eighty  feet  to  the  foot 
of  the  precipice.     If  I  lose  my  hold  I  shall 

*  Major  Powell  had  only  one  arm.    {Ed,\ 


88      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

fall  to  the  bottom,  and  then  perhaps  roll 
over  the  bench,  and  tumble  still  farther 
down  the  cliff.  At  this  instant  it  occurs  to 
Bradley  to  take  off  his  drawers,  which  he 
does,  and  swings  them  down  to  me.  I  hug 
close  to  the  rock,  let  go  with  my  hand,  seize 
the  danghng  legs,  and,  with  his  assistance, 
I  am  enabled  to  gain  the  top. 

Then  we  walk  out  on  a  peninsular  rock, 
make  the  necessary  observations  for  deter- 
mining its  altitude  above  camp,  and  return, 
finding  an  easy  way  down. 

June  19. — To-day,  Rowland,  Bradley, 
and  I  take  the  Emma  Dean,  and  start  up 
the  Yampa  River.  The  stream  is  much 
swollen,  the  current  swift,  and  we  are  able 
to  make  but  slow  progress  against  it.  The 
canon  in  this  part  of  the  course  of  the 
Yampa  is  cut  through  light  gray  sandstone. 
The  river  is  very  winding,  and  the  swifter 
water  is  usually  found  on  the  outside  of  the 
curve,  sweeping  against  vertical  cliffs,  often 
a  thousand  feet  high.  In  the  center  of 
these  curves,  in  many  places,  the  rock  above 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       89 

overhangs  the  river.  On  the  opposite  side, 
the  walls  are  broken,  craggy,  and  sloping, 
and  occasionally  side  canons  enter.  When 
we  have  rowed  until  we  are  quite  tired  we 
stop,  and  take  advantage  of  one  of  these 
broken  places  to  climb  out  of  the  canon. 
When  above,  we  can  look  up  the  Yampa  for 
a  distance  of  several  miles. 

From  the  summit  of  the  immediate  walls 
of  the  canon  the  rocks  rise  gently  back  for  a 
distance  of  a  mile  or  two,  having  the  appear- 
ance of  a  valley,  with  an  irregular,  rounded 
sandstone  floor,  and  in  the  center  of  the  val- 
ley a  deep  gorge,  which  is  the  canon.  The 
rim  of  this  valley  on  the  north  is  from  two 
thousand  five  hundred  to  three  thousand  feet 
above  the  river;  on  the  south,  it  is  not  so 
high.  A  number  of  peaks  stand  on  this 
northern  rim,  the  highest  of  which  has  re- 
ceived the  name  Mount  Dawes. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  descend  to  our 
boat,  and  return  to  camp  in  Echo  Park,  glid- 
ing down  in  twenty  minutes  on  the  rapid 
river  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles,  which 


90  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

was  only  made  up  stream  by  several  hours' 
hard  rowing  in  the  morning. 

June  20. — This  morning  two  of  the  men 
take  me  up  the  Yampa  for  a  short  distance, 
and  I  go  out  to  climb.  Having  reached  the 
top  of  the  canon,  I  walk  over  long  stretches 
of  naked  sandstone,  crossing  gulches  now 
and  then,  and  by  noon  reach  the  summit  of 
Mount  Dawes.  From  this  point' I  can  look 
away  to  the  north,  and  see  in  the  dim  distance 
the  Sweetwater  and  Wind  River  Mountains, 
more  than  a  himdred  miles  away.  To  the 
northwest,  the  Wasatch  Mountains  are  in 
view  and  peaks  of  the  Uinta.  To  the  east, 
I  can  see  the  western  slopes  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  distant. 

The  air  is  singularly  clear  to-day;  moun- 
tains and  buttes  stand  in  sharp  outline,  val- 
leys stretch  out  in  the  perspective,  and  I  can 
look  down  into  the  deep  canon  gorges  and  see 
gleaming  waters. 

Descending,  I  cross  a  ridge  near  the  brink 
of  the  Canon  of  Lodore,  the  highest  point  of 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       91 

which  is  nearly  as  high  as  the  last  mentioned 
mountain. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  I  stand  on  this  ele- 
vated point,  and  discover  a  monmnent  that 
has  evidently  been  built  by  human  hands.  A 
few  plants  are  growing  in  the  joints  between 
the  rocks,  and  all  are  lichened  over  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  showing  evidences  that 
the  pile  was  built  a  long  time  ago.  This  line 
of  peaks,  the  eastern  extension  of  the  Uinta 
Mountains,  has  received  the  name  of  Sierra 
Escalanti,  in  honor  of  a  Spanish  priest,  who 
traveled  in  this  region  of  country  nearly  a 
century  ago;  and,  perchance,  the  reverend 
father  built  this  monument. 

Now  I  return  to  the  river  and  discharge 
my  gun,  as  a  signal  for  the  boat  to  come  and 
take  me  down  to  camp.  Wliile  we  have  been 
in  the  park,  the  men  have  succeeded  in  catch- 
ing quite  a  number  of  fish,  and  we  have  an 
abundant  supply.  This  is  quite  an  addition 
to  our  cuisine. 

June  21. — We  float  around  the  long  rock, 
and  enter  another  canon.    The  walls  are 


92     iFIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

high  and  vertical;  the  canon  is  narrow;  and 
the  river  fills  the  whole  space  below,  so  that 
there  is  no  landing-place  at  the  foot  of  the 
cliff.  The  Green  is  greatly  increased  by  the 
Yampa,  and  we  now  have  a  much  larger 
river.  All  this  volume  of  water,  confined, 
as  it  is,  in  a  narrow  channel,  and  rushing  with 
great  velocity,  is  set  eddying  and  spinning  in 
whirlpools  by  projecting  rocks  and  short 
curves,  and  the  waters  waltz  their  way 
through  the  canon,  making  their  own  rip- 
pling, rushing,  roaring  music.  The  canon  is 
much  narrower  than  any  we  have  seen. 
With  difliculty  we  manage  our  boats.  They 
spin  about  from  side  to  side,  and  we  know 
not  where  we  are  going,  and  find  it  impossi- 
ble to  keep  them  headed  down  the  stream. 
At  first,  this  causes  us  great  alarm,  but  we 
soon  find  there  is  but  little  danger,  and  that 
there  is  a  general  movement  of  progression 
down  the  river,  to  which  this  whirling  is  but 
an  adjunct;  and  it  is  the  merry  mood  of  the 
river  to  dance  through  tliis  deep,  dark  gorge ; 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      93 

and  right  gaily  do  we  join  in  the  sport. 
Soon  our  revel  is  interrupted  by  a  cata- 
ract; its  roaring  command  is  heeded  by  all 
our  power  at  the  oars,  and  we  pull  against 
the  whirling  current.  The  Emma  Dean  is 
brought  up  against  a  cliff,  about  fifty  feet 
above  the  brink  of  the  fall.  By  vigorously 
plying  the  oars  on  the  side  opposite  the  wall, 
as  if  to  pull  up  stream,  we  can  hold  her 
against  the  rock.  The  boats  behind  are  sig- 
naled to  land  where  they  can.  The  Maid  of 
the  Canon  is  pulled  to  the  left  wall,  and,  by 
constant  rowing,  they  can  hold  her  also.  The 
Sister  is  run  into  an  alcove  on  the  right, 
where  an  eddy  is  in  a  dance,  and  in  this  she 
joins.  Now  my  httle  boat  is  held  against 
the  wall  only  by  the  utmost  exertion,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  make  headway  against  the  cur- 
rent. On  examination,  I  find  a  horizontal 
crevice  in  the  rock,  about  ten  feet  above  the 
water,  and  a  boat's  length  below  us,  so  we 
let  her  down  to  that  point.  One  of  the  men 
clambers  into  the  crevice,  in  which  he  can 


94     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

just  crawl;  we  toss  him  the  line,  which  Ke 
makes  fast  in  the  rocks,  and  now  our  boat  is 
tied  up.  Then  I  follow  into  the  crevice,  and 
we  crawl  along  a  distance  of  fifty  feet,  or 
more,  up  stream,  and  find  a  broken  place, 
where  we  can  climb  about  fifty  feet  higher. 
Here  we  stand  on  a  shelf,  that  passes  along 
do^n  stream  to  a  point  above  the  falls, 
where  it  is  broken  down,  and  a  pile  of  rocks, 
over  which  we  can  descend  to  the  river,  is 
lying  against  the  foot  of  the  cliff. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  one  of  the 
boats  is  on  the  other  side.  I  signal  for  the 
men  to  pull  her  up  alongside  of  the  wall,  but 
it  cannot  be  done ;  then  to  cross.  This  they 
do,  gaining  the  wall  on  our  side  just  above 
where  the  Emma  Dean  is  tied. 

The  third  boat  is  out  of  sight,  whirling  in 
the  eddy  of  a  recess.  Looking  about,  I  find 
another  horizontal  crevice,  along  which  I 
crawl  to  a  point  just  over  the  water,  where 
this  boat  is  lying,  and,  calling  loud  and  long, 
I  finally  succeed  in  making  the  crew  under- 
stand that  I  want  them  to  bring  the  boat 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       95 

down,  hugging  the  wall.  This  they  accom- 
plish, by  taking  advantage  of  every  crevice 
and  knob  on  the  face  of  the  cliff,  so  that  we 
have  the  three  boats  together  at  a  point  a 
few  yards  above  the  falls.  Now,  by  pass- 
ing a  line  up  on  the  shelf,  the  boats  can  be  let 
down  to  the  broken  rocks  below.  This  we 
do,  and,  making  a  short  portage,  our  trou- 
bles here  are  over. 

Below  the  falls,  the  canon  is  wider,  and 
there  is  more  or  less  space  between  the  river 
and  the  walls;  but  the  stream,  though  wide, 
is  rapid,  and  rolls  at  a  fearful  rate  among 
the  rocks.  We  proceed  with  great  caution, 
and  run  the  large  boats  altogether  by  sig- 
nal. 

At  night  we  camp  at  the  mouth  of  a  small 
creek,  which  affords  us  a  good  supper  of 
trout.  In  camp,  to-night,  we  discuss  the 
propriety  of  several  different  names  for  this 
canon.  At  the  falls,  encountered  at  noon, 
its  characteristics  change  suddenly.  Above, 
it  is  very  narrow,  and  the  walls  are  almost 
yertical;  below,  the  canon  is  much  vrfder,  and 


96     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

more  flaring;  and,  high  up  on  the  sides, 
crags,  pinnacles,  and  towers  are  seen.  A 
number  of  wild,  narrow  side  canons  enter, 
and  the  walls  are  much  broken.  After  many- 
suggestions,  our  choice  rests  between  two 
names.  Whirlpool  Canon  and  Craggy 
Canon,  neither  of  which  is  strictly  appro- 
priate for  both  parts  of  it;  but  we  leave  the 
discussion  at  this  point,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  it  is  best,  before  finally  deciding  on 
a  name,  to  wait  until  we  see  what  the  canon 
is  below. 

June  22. — Still  making  short  portages 
and  letting  down  with  lines.  While  we  are 
waiting  for  dinner  to-day,  I  climb  a  point 
that  gives  me  a  good  view  of  the  river  for 
two  or  three  miles  below,  and  I  think  we  can 
make  a  long  rim.  After  dinner,  we  start; 
the  large  boats  are  to  follow  in  fifteen  min- 
utes, and  look  out  for  the  signal  to  land. 
Into  the  middle  of  the  stream  we  row,  and 
down  the  rapid  river  we  glide,  only  making 
strokes  enough  with  the  oars  to  guide  the 
boat.     What  a  headlong  ride  it  is!  shooting 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       97 

past  rocks  and  islands !  I  am  soon  filled  witH 
exhilaration  only  experienced  before  in  rid- 
ing a  fleet  horse  over  the  outstretched 
prairie.  One,  two,  three,  four  miles  we  go, 
rearing  and  plunging  with  the  waves,  until 
we  wheel  to  the  right  into  a  beautiful  park, 
and  land  on  an  island,  where  we  go  into 
camp. 

An  hour  or  two  before  sunset,  I  cross  to 
the  mainland,  and  climb  a  point  of  rocks 
where  I  can  overlook  the  park  and  its  sur- 
roundings. On  the  east  it  is  bounded  by 
a  high  mountain  ridge.  A  semicircle  of 
naked  hills  bounds  it  on  the  north,  west,  and 
south.  The  broad,  deep  river  meanders 
through  the  park,  interrupted  by  many 
wooded  islands;  so  I  name  it  Island  Park, 
and  decide  to  call  the  canon  above  Whirlpool 
Canon. 

June  23. — We  remain  in  camp  to-day  to 
repair  our  boats,  which  have  had  hard  knocks, 
and  are  leaking.  Two  of  the  men  go  out 
with  the  barometer  to  climb  the  cliff  at  the 
foot  of  Whirlpool  Canon  and  measure  the 


98     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

walls ;  another  goes  on  the  mountain  to  hunt ; 
and  Bradley  and  I  spend  the  day  among  the 
rocks,  studying  an  interesting  geological 
fold  and  collecting  fossils.  Late  in  the 
afternoon,  the  hunter  returns,  and  brings 
with  him  a  fine,  fat  deer,  so  we  give  his  name 
to  the  mountain — Mount  Hawkins.  Just 
before  night  we  move  camp  to  the  lower  end 
of  the  park,  floating  down  the  river  about 
four  miles. 

June  24, — Bradley  and  I  start  early  to 
climb  the  mountain  ridge  to  the  east;  find  its 
summit  to  be  nearly  three  thousand  feet 
above  camp,  and  it  has  required  some  labor 
to  scale  it ;  but  on  its  top,  what  a  view !  There 
is  a  long  spur  running  out  from  the  Uinta 
JNIountains  toward  the  south,  and  the  river 
runs  lengthwise  through  it.  Coming  down 
Lodore  and  Whirlpool  Canons,  we  cut 
through  the  southern  slope  of  the  Uinta 
Mountains ;  and  the  lower  end  of  this  latter 
canon  runs  into  the  spur,  but,  instead  of  split- 
ting it  the  whole  length,  the  river  wheels  to 
the  right  at  the  foot  of  Whirlpool  Canon,  in 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER       99 

a  great  curve  to  the  northwest,  through 
Island  Park.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  park, 
the  river  turns  again  to  the  southeast,  and 
cuts  into  the  mountain  to  its  center,  and  then 
makes  a  detour  to  the  southwest,  splitting 
the  mountain  ridge  for  a  distance  of  six  miles 
nearly  to  its  foot,  and  then  turns  out  of  it  to 
the  left.  All  this  we  can  see  where  we  stand 
on  the  summit  of  Mount  Hawkins,  and  so 
we  name  the  gorge  below  Split  Mountain 
Canon. 

We  are  standing  three  thousand  feet 
above  its  waters,  which  are  troubled  with  bil- 
lows, and  white  with  foam.  Its  walls  are  set 
with  crags  and  peaks,  and  buttressed  towers, 
and  overhanging  domes.  Turning  to  the 
right,  the  park  is  below  us,  with  its  island 
groves  reflected  by  the  deep,  quiet  waters. 
Rich  meadows  stretch  out  on  either  hand, 
to  the  verge  of  a  sloping  plain,  that  comes 
down  from  the  distant  mountains.  These 
plains  are  of  almost  naked  rock,  in  strange 
contrast  to  the  meadows ;  blue  and  lilac  col- 
ored rocks,  buff  and  pink,  vermilion  and 


100   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

brown,  and  all  these  colors  clear  and  bright. 
A  dozen  little  creeks,  dry  the  greater  part  of 
the  year,  run  down  through  the  half  circle  of 
exposed  formations,  radiating  from  the 
island-center  to  the  rim  of  the  basin.  Each 
creek  has  its  system  of  side  streams,  and  each 
side  stream  has  its  system  of  laterals,  and, 
again,  these  are  divided,  so  that  this  out- 
stretched slope  of  rock  is  elaborately  em- 
bossed. Beds  of  different  colored  forma- 
tions run  in  parallel  bands  on  either  side. 
The  perspective,  modified  by  the  imdula- 
tions,  gives  the  bands  a  waved  appearance, 
and  the  high  colors  gleam  in  the  midday  sun 
with  the  luster  of  satin.  We  are  tempted 
to  call  this  Rainbow  Park.  Away  beyond 
these  beds  are  the  Uinta  and  Wasatch 
Mountains,  with  their  pine  forests  and  snow 
fields  and  naked  peaks.  Now  we  turn  to 
the  right,  and  look  up  Whirlpool  Canon, 
a  deep  gorge,  with  a  river  in  the  bottom — 
a  gloomy  chasm,  where  mad  waves  roar; 
but,  at  this  distance  and  altitude,  the  river 
is  but  a  rippling  brook,  and  the  chasm  a 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      101 

narrow  cleft.  The  top  of  the  mountain 
on  which  we  stand  is  a  broad,  grassy  table, 
and  a  herd  of  deer  is  feeding  in  the  dis- 
tance. Walking  over  to  the  southeast,  we 
look  down  into  the  valley  of  White  River, 
and  beyond  that  see  the  far  distant  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  mellow,  perspective  haze, 
through  which  snow  fields  shine. 

June  25. — This  morning,  we  enter  Split 
Mountain  Canon,  sailing  in  through  a 
broad,  flaring,  brilliant  gateway.  We  run 
two  or  three  rapids  after  they  have  been 
carefully  examined.  Then  we  have  a  series 
of  six  or  eight,  over  which  we  are  compelled 
to  pass  by  letting  the  boats  down  with 
lines.  This  occupies  the  entire  day,  and  we 
camp  at  night  at  the  mouth  of  a  great 
cave. 

The  cave  is  at  the  foot  of  one  of  these 
rapids,  and  the  waves  dash  in  nearly  to  its 
very  end.  We  can  pass  along  a  little  shelf 
at  the  side  until  we  reach  the  back  part. 
Swallows  have  built  their  nests  in  the  ceil- 
ing, and  they  wheel  in,  chattering  and  scold- 


lOa  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ing  at  our  intrusion ;  but  their  clamor  is  al- 
most drowned  by  the  noise  of  the  waters. 
Looking  out  of  the  cave,  we  can  see,  far  up 
the  river,  a  line  of  crags  standing  sentinel 
on  either  side,  and  Mount  Hawkins  in  the 
distance. 

June  26. — The  forenoon  is  spent  in  get- 
ting our  large  boats  over  the  rapids.  This 
afternoon,  we  find  three  falls  in  close  suc- 
cession. We  carry  our  rations  over  the 
rocks,  and  let  our  boats  shoot  over  the  falls, 
checking  and  bringing  them  to  land  with 
lines  in  the  eddies  below.  At  three  o'clock 
we  are  all  aboard  again.  Down  the  river 
we  are  carried  by  the  swift  waters  at  great 
speed,  sheering  around  a  rock  now  and  then 
with  a  timely  stroke  or  two  of  the  oars.  At 
one  point,  the  river  turns  from  left  to  right, 
in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to  the  canon, 
in  a  long  chute,  and  strikes  the  right,  where 
its  waters  are  heaped  up  in  great  billows, 
that  tumble  back  in  breakers.  We  glide 
into  the  chute  before  we  see  the  danger,  and 
it  is  too  late  to  stop.     Two  or  three  hard 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      103 

strokes  are  given  on  the  right,  and  we  pause 
for  an  instant,  expecting  to  be  dashed 
against  the  rock.  The  bow  of  the  boat 
leaps  high  on  a  gi'eat  wave ;  the  rebounding 
waters  hurl  us  back,  and  the  peril  is  past. 
The  next  moment,  the  other  boats  are  hur- 
riedly signaled  to  land  on  the  left.  Ac- 
complishing this,  the  men  walk  along  the 
shore,  holding  the  boats  near  the  bank,  and 
let  them  drift  around.  Starting  again,  we 
soon  debouch  into  a  beautiful  valley,  and 
glide  down  its  length  for  ten  miles,  and 
camp  under  a  grand  old  cottonwood.  This 
is  evidently  a  frequent  resort  for  Indians. 
Tent  poles  are  lying  about,  and  the  dead 
embers  of  late  camp  fires  are  seen.  On  the 
plains,  to  the  left,  antelope  are  feeding. 
Now  and  then  a  wolf  is  seen,  and  after  dark 
they  make  the  air  resound  with  their  howl- 
ing. 

June  27. — Now  our  way  is  along  a  gently 
flowing  river,  beset  with  many  islands; 
groves  are  seen  on  either  side,  and  natural 
meadows,  where  herds  of  antelope  are  feed- 


104      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ing.  Here  and  there  we  have  views  of  the 
distant  mountains  on  the  right. 

During  the  afternoon,  we  make  a  long 
detour  to  the  west,  and  return  again,  to  a 
point  not  more  than  half  a  mile  from  where 
we  started  at  noon,  and  here  we  camp,  for 
the  night,  under  a  high  bluff. 

June  28. — To-day,  the  scenery  on  either 
side  of  the  river  is  much  the  same  as  that  of 
yesterday,  except  that  two  or  three  lakes 
are  discovered,  lying  in  the  valley  to  the 
west.  After  dinner,  we  run  but  a  few  min- 
utes, when  we  discover  the  mouth  of  the 
Uinta,  a  river  coming  in  from  the  west.  Up 
the  valley  of  this  stream,  about  forty  miles, 
the  reservation  of  the  Uinta  Indians  is  sit- 
uated. We  propose  to  go  there,  and  see  if 
we  can  replenish  our  mess  kit,  and,  perhaps, 
send  letters  to  friends.  We  also  desire  to 
estabhsh  an  astronomic  station  here;  and 
hence  this  will  be  our  stopping  place  for 
several  days. 

Some  years  ago.  Captain  Berthoud  sur- 
yeyed  a  stage  route  from  Salt  Lake  City  to 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      106 

Denver,  and  this  is  the  place  where  he 
crossed  the  Green  River.  His  party  was 
encamped  here  for  some  time,  constructing 
a  ferry  boat  and  opening  a  road. 

A  httle  above  the  mouth  of  the  Uinta,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Green,  there  is  a  lake  of 
several  thousand  acres.  We  carry  our 
boat  across  the  divide  between  this  and  the 
river,  have  a  row  on  its  quiet  waters,  and 
succeed  in  shooting  several  ducks. 

June  29. — A  mile  and  three  quarters  from 
here  is  the  junction  of  the  White  River  with 
the  Green.  The  White  has  its  source  far 
to  the  east,  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This 
morning,  I  cross  the  Green,  and  go  over  into 
the  valley  of  the  White,  and  extend  my 
walk  several  miles  along  its  winding  way, 
until,  at  last,  I  come  in  sight  of  some 
strangely  carved  rocks,  named  by  General 
Hughes,  in  his  journal,  "Goblin  City." 
Our  last  winter's  camp  was  situated  a  hun- 
dred miles  above  the  point  reached  to-day. 
The  course  of  the  river,  for  much  of  the  dis- 
tance,  is   through   canons;   but,   at   some 


106  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

places,  valleys  are  found.  Excepting  these 
little  valleys,  the  region  is  one  of  great  des- 
olation: arid,  almost  treeless,  bluffs,  hills, 
ledges  of  rock,  and  drifting  sands.  Along 
the  course  of  the  Green,  however,  from  the 
foot  of  Split  Mountain  Canon  to  a  point 
some  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Uinta, 
there  are  many  groves  of  cottonwood,  nat- 
ural meadows,  and  rich  lands.  This  arable 
belt  extends  some  distance  up  the  White 
River,  on  the  east,  and  the  Uinta,  on  the 
west,  and  the  time  must  soon  come  when 
settlers  will  penetrate  this  country,  and 
make  homes. 

June  30. — ^We  have  a  row  up  the  Uinta 
to-day,  but  are  not  able  to  make  much  head- 
way against  the  swift  current,  and  hence 
conclude  we  must  walk  all  the  way  to  the 
agency. 

July  1. — Two  days  have  been  employed 
in  obtaining  the  local  time,  taking  observa- 
tions for  latitude  and  longitude,  and  mak- 
ing excursions  into  the  adjacent  country. 
This  morning,  with  two  of  the  men,  I  start 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      107 

for  the  Agency.  It  is  a  toilsome  walk, 
twenty  miles  of  the  distance  being  across 
a  sand  desert.  Occasionally,  we  have  to 
wade  the  river,  crossing  it  back  and  forth. 
Toward  evening,  we  cross  several  beautiful 
streams,  which  are  tributaries  of  the  Uinta, 
and  we  pass  through  pine  groves  and  mead- 
ows, arriving  just  at  dusk  at  the  Reserva- 
tion. Captain  Dodds,  the  agent,  is  away, 
having  gone  to  Salt  Lake  City,  but  his  as- 
sistants received  us  very  kindly.  It  is 
rather  pleasant  to  see  a  house  once  more, 
and  some  evidences  of  civilization,  even  if  it 
is  on  an  Indian  reservation,  several  days' 
ride  from  the  nearest  home  of  the  white 
man. 

July  2, — ^I  go,  this  morning,  to  visit 
Tsau'-wi-at.  This  old  chief  is  but  the 
wreck  of  a  man,  and  no  longer  has  influence. 
Looking  at  him,  you  can  scarcely  realize 
that  he  is  a  man.  His  skin  is  shrunken, 
wrinkled,  and  dry,  and  seems  to  cover  no 
more  than  a  form  of  bones.  He  is  said  to 
be  more  than  a  hundred  years  old.     I  talk 


108     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

a  little  with  him,  but  his  conversation  is  in- 
coherent, though  he  seems  to  take  pride  in 
showing  me  some  medals,  that  must  have 
been  given  him  many  years  ago.  He  has 
a  pipe  which,  he  says,  he  has  used  a  long 
time.  I  oflFer  to  exchange  with  him,  and  he 
seems  to  be  glad  to  accept;  so  I  add  another 
to  my  collection  of  pipes.  His  wife,  "The 
Bishop,"  as  she  is  called,  is  a  very  garrulous 
old  woman;  she  exerts  a  great  influence, 
and  is  much  revered.  She  is  the  only  In- 
dian woman  I  have  known  to  occupy  a  place 
in  the  council  ring.  She  seems  very  much 
younger  than  her  husband,  and,  though 
wrinkled  and  ugly,  is  still  vigorous.  She 
has  much  to  say  to  me  concerning  the  con- 
dition of  the  people,  and  seems  very  anxious 
that  they  should  learn  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
own  farms,  and  live  like  white  men.  After 
talking  a  couple  of  hours  with  these  old  peo- 
ple, I  go  to  see  the  farms.  They  are  situ- 
ated in  a  very  beautiful  district,  where  many 
fine  streams  of  water  meander  across  al- 
luvial plains  and  meadows.     These  creeks 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      109 

have  quite  a  fall,  and  it  is  very  easy  to  take 
their  waters  out  above,  and,  with  them, 
overflow  the  lands. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  irrigation  is 
necessary,  in  this  dry  climate,  to  successful 
farming.  Quite  a  number  of  Indians  have 
each  a  patch  of  ground,  of  two  or  three 
acres,  on  which  they  are  raising  wheat,  po- 
tatoes, turnips,  pumpkins,  melons,  and 
other  vegetables.  Most  of  the  crops  are 
looking  well,  and  it  is  rather  surprising  with 
what  pride  they  show  us  that  they  are  able 
to  cultivate  crops  like  white  men.  They  are 
still  occupying  lodges,  and  refuse  to  build 
houses,  assigning  as  a  reason  that  when  any 
one  dies  in  a  lodge  it  is  always  abandoned, 
and  very  often  burned  with  all  the  effects 
of  the  deceased,  and  when  houses  have  been 
built  for  them  they  have  been  treated  in  the 
same  way.  With  their  unclean  habits,  a 
fixed  residence  would  doubtless  be  no  pleas- 
ant place.  This  beautiful  valley  has  been 
the  home  of  a  people  of  a  higher  grade  of 
civilization  than  the   present   Utes.     Evi- 


110      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

dences  of  this  are  quite  abundant;  on  our 
way  here  yesterday  we  discovered,  in  many 
places  along  the  trail,  fragments  of  pottery; 
and  wandering  about  the  little  farms  to-day, 
I  find  the  foundations  of  ancient  houses,  and 
mealing  stones  that  were  not  used  by  no- 
madic people,  as  they  are  too  heavy  to  be 
transported  by  such  tribes,  and  are  deeply 
worn.  The  Indians,  seeing  that  I  am  inter- 
ested in  these  matters,  take  pains  to  show 
me  several  other  places  where  these  evi- 
dences remain,  and  tell  me  that  they  know 
nothing  about  the  people  who  formerly 
dwelt  here.  They  further  tell  me  that  up 
in  the  canon  the  rocks  are  covered  with  pic- 
tures. 

July  5. — The  last  two  days  have  been 
spent  in  studying  the  language  of  the  In- 
dians, and  making  collections  of  articles  il- 
lustrating the  state  of  arts  among  them. 

Frank  Goodman  informs  me,  this  morn- 
ing, that  he  has  concluded  not  to  go  on  with 
the  party,  saying  that  he  has  seen  danger 


ECHO  PARK  TO  UINTA  RIVER      111 

enough.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he 
was  one  of  the  crew  on  the  No  Name  when 
she  was  wrecked.  As  our  boats  are  rather 
heavily  loaded,  I  am  content  that  he  should 
leave,  although  he  has  been  a  faithful  man. 
We  start  early  on  our  return  to  the  boats, 
taking  horses  with  us  from  the  reservation, 
and  two  Indians,  who  are  to  bring  the  ani- 
mals back. 

Whirlpool  Canon  is  fourteen  and  a  quar- 
ter miles  in  length,  the  walls  varying  from 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  to  two  thou- 
sand four  hundred  feet  in  height.  The 
course  of  the  river  through  Island  Park  is 
nine  miles.  Split  Mountain  Canon  is  eight 
miles  long.  The  highest  crags  on  its  walls 
reach  an  altitude  above  the  river  of  from  two 
thousand  five  hundred  to  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  feet.  In  these  canons,  ce- 
dars only  are  found  on  the  walls. 

The  distance  by  river  from  the  foot  of 
Split  Mountain  Canon  to  the  mouth  of  the 


in     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Uinta  is  sixty-seven  miles.  The  valley 
through  which  it  runs  is  the  home  of  many 
antelope,  and  we  have  adopted  the  Indian 
name,  Won'-sits  Yu-av — Antelope  Valley. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FROM  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  UINTA  EIVEE  TO 
THE  JUNCTION  OF  THE  GRAND  AND  GREEN 

JULY  6. — Start  early  this  morning. 
A  short  distance  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Uinta,  we  come  to  the  head 
of  a  long  island.  Last  winter,  a  man 
named  Johnson,  a  hunter  and  Indian  trader, 
visited  us  at  our  camp  in  White  River  Val- 
ley. This  man  has  an  Indian  wife,  and, 
having  no  fixed  home,  usually  travels  with 
one  of  the  Ute  bands.  He  informed  me  it 
was  his  intention  to  plant  some  com,  pota- 
toes, and  other  vegetables  on  this  island  in 
the  spring,  and,  knowing  that  we  would  pass 
it,  invited  us  to  stop  and  help  ourselves,  even 
if  he  should  not  be  there ;  so  we  land  and  go 
out  on  the  island.  Looking  about,  we  soon 
discover  his  garden,  but  it  is  in  a  sad  condi- 

113 


114.      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

tion,  having  received  no  care  since  it  was 
planted.  It  is  yet  too  early  in  the  season 
for  com,  hut  Hall  suggests  that  potato  tops 
are  good  greens,  and,  anxious  for  some 
change  from  our  salt  meat  fare,  we  gather 
a  quantity  and  take  them  ahoard.  At  noon 
we  stop  and  cook  our  greens  for  dinner;  hut 
soon,  one  after  another  of  the  party  is  taken 
sick ;  nausea  first,  and  then  severe  vomiting, 
and  we  tumble  around  under  the  trees, 
groaning  with  pain,  and  I  feel  a  little 
alarmed,  lest  our  poisoning  be  severe. 
Emetics  are  administered  to  those  who  are 
willing  to  take  them,  and  about  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon  we  are  all  rid  of  the  pain. 
Jack  Sumner  records  in  his  diary  that  '*Po- 
tato  tops  are  not  good  greens  on  the  sixth 
day  of  July."  * 

This  evening  we  enter  another  canon,  al- 
most imperceptibly,  as  the  walls  rise  very 
gently. 

*  Potato  tops  do  make  good  greens  when  they  are  young, 
but  become  poisonous  as  they  mature,  like  poke  shoots. 
{Ed.X 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     116 

July  7. — We  find  quiet  water  to-day,  the 
river  sweeping  in  great  and  beautiful 
curves,  the  canon  walls  steadily  increasing 
in  altitude.  The  escarpment  formed  by  the 
cut  edges  of  the  rock  are  often  vertical, 
sometimes  terraced,  and  in  some  places  the 
treads  of  the  terraces  are  sloping.  In  these 
quiet  curves  vast  amphitheaters  are  formed, 
now  in  vertical  rocks,  now  in  steps. 

The  sahent  point  of  rock  within  the  curve 
is  usually  broken  down  in  a  steep  slope,  and 
we  stop  occasionally  to  climb  up,  at  such  a 
place,  where,  on  looking  down,  we  can  see 
the  river  sweeping  the  foot  of  the  opposite 
cliif,  in  a  great,  easy  curve,  with  a  perpen- 
dicular or  terraced  wall  rising  from  the  wa- 
ter's edge  many  hundreds  of  feet.  One  of 
these  we  find  very  symmetrical,  and  name 
it  Sumner's  Amphitheater.  The  clifiPs  are 
rarely  broken  by  the  entrance  of  side  canons, 
and  we  sweep  around  curv^e  after  curve, 
with  almost  continuous  walls,  for  several 
miles. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  we  find  the  river 


116     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

much  rougher,  and  come  upon  rapids,  not 
dangerous,  but  still  demanding  close  atten- 
tion. 

We  camp  at  night  on  the  right  bank,  hav- 
ing made  to-day  twenty-six  miles. 

July  8. — This  morning,  Bradley  and  I 
go  out  to  climb,  and  gain  an  altitude  of 
more  than  two  thousand  feet  above  the  river, 
but  still  do  not  reach  the  summit  of  the 
wall. 

After  dinner,  we  pass  through  a  region  of 
the  wildest  desolation.  The  canon  is  very 
tortuous,  the  river  very  rapid,  and  many 
lateral  canons  enter  on  either  side.  These 
usually  have  their  branches,  so  that  the  re- 
gion is  cut  into  a  wilderness  of  gray  and 
brown  cliffs.  In  several  places,  these  lat- 
eral canons  are  only  separated  from  each 
other  by  narrow  walls,  often  hundreds  of 
feet  high,  but  so  narrow  in  places  that  where 
softer  rocks  are  found  below,  they  have 
crumbled  away,  and  left  holes  in  the  wall, 
forming  passages  from  one  canon  into  an- 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     117 

other.  These  we  often  call  natural  bridges; 
but  they  were  never  intended  to  span 
streams.  They  had  better,  perhaps,  be 
called  side  doors  between  canon  chambers. 

Piles  of  broken  rock  lie  against  these 
walls;  crags  and  tower  shaped  peaks  are 
seen  everywhere;  and  away  above  them, 
long  lines  of  broken  cliffs,  and  above  and 
beyond  the  cliffs  are  pine  forests,  of  which 
we  obtain  occasional  glimpses,  as  we  look 
up  through  a  vista  of  rocks. 

The  walls  are  almost  without  vegetation; 
a  few  dwarf  bushes  are  seen  here  and  there, 
clinging  to  the  rocks,  and  cedars  grow  from 
the  crevices — ^not  like  the  cedars  of  a  land 
refreshed  with  rains,  great  cones  bedecked 
with  spray,  but  ugly  clumps,  hke  war  clubs, 
beset  with  spines.  We  are  minded  to  call 
this  the  Canon  of  Desolation. 

The  wind  annoys  us  much  to-day.  The 
water,  rough  by  reason  of  the  rapids,  is  made 
more  so  by  head  gales.  Wherever  a  great 
face  of  rock  has  a  southern  exposure,  the 


118      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON, 

rarified  air  rises,  and  the  wind  rushes  in  be- 
low, either  up  or  down  the  canon,  or  both, 
causing  local  currents. 

Just  at  sunset,  we  run  a  bad  rapid,  and 
camp  at  its  foot. 

July  9. — Our  run  to-day  is  through  a 
canon,  with  ragged,  broken  walls,  many  lat- 
eral gulches  or  canons  entering  on  either 
side.  The  river  is  rough,  and  occasionally 
it  becomes  necessary  to  use  lines  in  passing 
rocky  places.  During  the  afternoon,  we 
come  to  a  rather  open  canon  valley,  stretch- 
ing up  toward  the  west,  its  farther  end  lost 
in  the  mountains.  From  a  point  to  which 
we  chmb,  we  obtain  a  good  view  of  its 
course,  imtil  its  angular  walls  are  lost  in  the 
yista. 

July  10. — Sumner,  who  is  a  fine  mechan- 
ist, is  learning  to  take  observations  for  time 
with  the  sextant.  To-day,  he  remains  in 
camp  to  practice. 

Howland  and  myself  determine  to  climK 
out,  and  start  up  a  lateral  canon,  taking  a 
barometer  with  us,  for  the  purpose  of  meas- 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      119 

uring  the  thickness  of  the  strata  over  whicK 
we  pass.  The  readings  of  a  barometer  be- 
low are  recorded  every  half  hour,  and  our 
observations  must  be  simultaneous.  Where 
the  beds,  which  we  desire  to  measure,  are 
very  thick,  we  must  climb  with  the  utmost 
speed,  to  reach  their  summits  in  time. 
Again,  where  there  are  thinner  beds,  we 
wait  for  the  moment  to  arrive;  and  so,  by 
hard  and  easy  stages,  we  make  our  way  to 
the  top  of  the  canon  wall,  and  reach  the 
plateau  above  about  two  o'clock. 

Howland,  who  has  his  gun  with  him,  sees 
deer  feeding  a  mile  or  two  back,  and  goes 
off  for  a  hunt.  I  go  to  a  peak,  which  seems 
to  be  the  highest  one  in  this  region,  about 
half  a  mile  distant,  and  climb,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  tracing  the  topography  of  the  ad- 
jacent country.  From  this  point,  a  fine 
view  is  obtained.  A  long  plateau  stretches 
across  the  river,  in  an  easterly  and  westerly 
direction,  the  summit  covered  by  pine  for- 
ests, with  intervening  elevated  valleys  and 
gulches.     The  plateau  itself  is  cut  in  two 


120      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

by  the  canon.  Other  side  canons  head 
away  back  from  the  river,  and  run  down 
into  the  Green.  Besides  these,  deep  and 
abrupt  canons  are  seen  to  head  back  on  the 
plateau,  and  run  north  toward  the  Uinta 
and  White  Rivers.  Still  other  canons  head 
in  the  valleys,  and  run  toward  the  south. 
The  elevation  of  the  plateau  being  about 
eight  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  brings  it  into  a  region  of  moisture,  as 
is  well  attested  by  the  forests  and  grassy 
valleys.  The  plateau  seems  to  rise  gradu- 
ally to  the  west,  until  it  merges  into  the 
Wasatch  Mountains.  On  these  high  table 
lands,  elk  and  deer  abound;  and  they  are 
favorite  hunting  grounds  for  the  Ute  In- 
dians. 

A  little  before  sunset,  Howland  and  I 
meet  again  at  the  head  of  the  side  canon, 
and  down  we  start.  It  is  late,  and  we  must 
make  great  haste,  or  be  caught  by  the  dark- 
ness ;  so  we  go,  running  where  we  can ;  leap- 
ing over  the  ledges ;  letting  each  other  down 
on  the  loose  rocks,  as  long  as  we  can  see. 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      121 

When  darkness  comes,  we  are  still  some  dis- 
tance from  camp,  and  a  long,  slow,  anxious 
descent  we  make,  towards  the  gleaming  camp 
fire. 

After  supper,  observations  for  latitude 
are  taken,  and  only  two  or  three  hours  for 
sleep  remain,  before  daylight. 

July  11. — A  short  distance  below  camp 
we  run  a  rapid,  and,  in  doing  so,  break  an 
oar,  and  then  lose  another,  both  belonging 
to  the  Emma  Dean,  So  the  pioneer  boat 
has  but  two  oars. 

We  see  nothing  of  which  oars  can  be  made, 
so  we  conclude  to  run  on  to  some  point, 
where  it  seems  possible  to  chmb  out  to  the 
forests  on  the  plateau,  and  there  we  will  pro- 
cure suitable  timber  from  which  to  make 
new  ones. 

We  soon  approach  another  rapid.  Stand- 
ing on  deck,  I  think  it  can  be  run,  and  on 
we  go.  Coming  nearer,  I  see  that  at  the 
foot  it  has  a  short  turn  to  the  left,  where  the 
waters  pile  up  against  the  cliff.  Here  we 
try  to  land,  but  quickly  discover  that,  being 


122      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

in  swift  water,  above  the  fall,  we  cannot 
reach  shore,  crippled,  as  we  are,  by  the  loss 
of  two  oars ;  so  the  bow  of  the  boat  is  turned 
down  stream.  We  shoot  by  a  big  rock;  a 
reflex  wave  rolls  over  our  Httle  boat  and  fills 
her.  I  see  the  place  is  dangerous,  and 
quickly  signal  to  the  other  boats  to  land 
where  they  can.  This  is  scarcely  completed 
when  another  wave  rolls  our  boat  over,  and 
I  am  thrown  some  distance  into  the  water. 
I  soon  find  that  swimming  is  very  easy,  and 
I  cannot  sink.  It  is  only  necessary  to  ply 
strokes  sufiicient  to  keep  my  head  out  of  the 
water,  though  now  and  then,  when  a  breaker 
rolls  over  me,  I  close  my  mouth,  and  am  car- 
ried through  it.  The  boat  is  drifting  ahead 
of  me  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  and,  when  the 
great  waves  are  passed,  I  overtake  it,  and 
find  Sumner  and  Dunn  clinging  to  her.  As 
soon  as  we  reach  quiet  water,  we  all  swim  to 
one  side  and  turn  her  over.  In  doing  this, 
Dunn  loses  his  hold  and  goes  under;  when 
he  comes  up,  he  is  caught  by  Sumner  and 
pulled  to  the  boat.     In  the  meantime  we 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      123 

have  drifted  down  stream  some  distance,  and 
see  another  rapid  below.  How  bad  it  may 
be  we  cannot  tell,  so  we  swim  toward  shore, 
pulling  our  boat  with  us,  with  all  the  vigor 
possible,  but  are  carried  down  much  faster 
than  distance  toward  shore  is  gained.  At 
last  we  reach  a  huge  pile  of  drift  wood.  Our 
rolls  of  blankets,  two  guns,  and  a  barometer 
were  in  the  open  compartment  of  the  boat, 
and,  when  it  went  over,  these  were  thrown 
out.  The  guns  and  barometer  are  lost,  but 
I  succeeded  in  catching  one  of  the  rolls  of 
blankets,  as  it  drifted  by,  when  we  were 
swimmmg  to  shore;  the  other  two  are  lost, 
and  sometimes  hereafter  we  may  sleep  cold. 

A  huge  fire  is  built  on  the  bank,  our  cloth- 
ing is  spread  to  dry,  and  then  from  the  drift 
logs  we  select  one  from  which  we  think  oars 
can  be  made,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day  is 
spent  in  sawing  them  out. 

July  12. — This  morning,  the  new  oars 
are  finished,  and  we  start  once  more.  We 
pass  several  bad  rapids,  making  a  short  port- 
age at  one,  and  before  noon  we  come  to  a 


lU      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

long,  bad  fall,  where  the  channel  is  filled  with 
rocks  on  the  left,  turning  the  waters  to  the 
right,  where  they  pass  under  an  overhanging 
rock.  On  examination,  we  determine  to  run 
it,  keeping  as  close  to  the  left  hand  rocks  as 
safety  will  permit,  in  order  to  avoid  the  over- 
hanging cliff.  The  little  boat  runs  over  all 
right;  another  follows,  but  the  men  are  not 
able  to  keep  her  near  enough  to  the  left  bank, 
and  she  is  carried,  by  a  swift  chute,  into  great 
waves  to  the  right,  where  she  is  tossed  about, 
and  Bradley  is  knocked  over  the  side,  but  his 
foot  catching  under  the  seat,  he  is  dragged 
along  in  the  water,  with  his  head  down ;  mak- 
ing great  exertion,  he  seizes  the  gunwale 
with  his  left  hand,  and  can  lift  his  head  above 
water  now  and  then.  To  us  who  are  below, 
it  seems  impossible  to  keep  the  boat  from 
going  under  the  overhanging  cliff;  but  Pow- 
ell, for  the  moment,  heedless  of  Bradley's 
mishap,  pulls  with  all  his  power  for  half  a 
dozen  strokes,  when  the  danger  is  past;  then 
he  seizes  Bradley,  and  pulls  him  in.     The 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     125 

men  in  the  boat  above,  seeing  this,  land,  and 
she  is  let  down  by  lines. 

Just  here  we  emerge  from  the  Canon  of 
Desolation,  as  we  have  named  it,  into  a  more 
open  comitry,  which  extends  for  a  distance 
of  nearly  a  mile,  when  we  enter  another 
canon,  cut  through  gray  sandstone. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we 
meet  with  a  new  difficulty.  The  river  fills 
the  entire  channel;  the  walls  are  vertical  on 
either  side,  from  the  water's  edge,  and  a  bad 
rapid  is  beset  with  rocks.  We  come  to  the 
head  of  it,  and  land  on  a  rock  in  the  stream ; 
the  little  boat  is  let  down  to  another  rock 
below,  the  men  of  the  larger  boat  holding  to 
the  line;  the  second  boat  is  let  down  in  the 
same  way,  and  the  line  of  the  third  boat  is 
brought  with  them.  Now,  the  third  boat 
pushes  out  from  the  upper  rock,  and,  as  we 
have  her  line  below,  we  pull  in  and  catch  her, 
as  she  is  sweeping  by  at  the  foot  of  the  rock 
on  which  we  stand.  Again  the  first  boat  is 
let  down  stream  the  full  length  of  her  line. 


126      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

and  the  second  boat  is  passed  down  by  the 
first  to  the  extent  of  her  line,  which  is  held 
by  the  men  in  the  first  boat;  so  she  is  two 
lines'  length  from  where  she  started.  Then 
the  third  boat  is  let  down  past  the  second, 
and  still  down,  nearly  to  the  length  of  her 
line,  so  that  she  is  fast  to  the  second  boat, 
and  swinging  down  three  lines'  lengths,  with 
the  other  two  boats  intervening.  Held  in 
this  way,  the  men  are  able  to  pull  her  into  a 
cove,  in  the  left  wall,  where  she  is  made  fast. 
But  this  leaves  a  man  on  the  rock  above, 
holding  to  the  line  of  the  little  boat.  When 
all  is  ready,  he  springs  from  the  rock,  cling- 
ing to  the  line  with  one  hand,  and  swimming 
with  the  other,  and  we  pull  him  in  as  he  goes 
by.  As  the  two  boats,  thus  loosened,  drift 
down,  the  men  in  the  cove  pull  us  all  in,  as 
we  come  opposite ;  then  we  pass  around  to  a 
point  of  rock  below  the  cove,  close  to  the 
wall,  land,  and  make  a  short  portage  over  the 
worst  places  in  the  rapid,  and  start  again. 

At  night  we  camp  on  a  sand  beach;  the 
wind  blows  a  hurricane;  the  drifting  sand 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      127' 

almost  blinds  us;  and  nowhere  can  we  find 
shelter.  The  wind  continues  to  blow  all 
night;  the  sand  sifts  through  our  blankets, 
and  piles  over  us,  until  we  are  covered  as  in 
a  snow-drift.  We  are  glad  when  morning 
comes. 

July  13. — This  morning,  we  have  an  ex- 
hilarating ride.  The  river  is  swift,  and 
there  are  many  smooth  rapids.  I  stand  on 
deck,  keeping  careful  watch  ahead,  and  we 
glide  along,  mile  after  mile,  plying  strokes 
now  on  the  right,  and  then  on  the  left,  just 
sufficient  to  guide  our  boats  past  the  rocks 
into  smooth  water.  At  noon  we  emerge 
from  Gray  Canon,  as  we  have  named  it,  and 
camp,  for  dinner,  under  a  cottonwood  tree, 
standing  on  the  left  bank. 

Extensive  sand  plains  extend  back  from 
the  immediate  river  valley,  as  far  as  we  can 
see,  on  either  side.  These  naked,  drifting 
sands  gleam  brilliantly  in  the  midday  sun  of 
July.  The  reflected  heat  from  the  glaring 
surface  produces  a  curious  motion  of  the  at- 
mosphere ;  little  currents  are  generated,  and 


128      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  whole  seems  to  be  trembling  and  moving 
about  in  many  directions,  or,  failing  to  see 
that  the  movement  is  in  the  atmosphere,  it 
gives  the  impression  of  an  unstable  land. 
Plains,  and  hills,  and  cliffs,  and  distant 
mountains  seem  vaguely  to  be  floating  about 
in  a  trembling,  wave  rocked  sea,  and  patches 
of  landscape  will  seem  to  float  away,  and  be 
lost,  and  then  re-appear. 

Just  opposite,  there  are  buttes,  that  are 
outliers  of  cliffs  to  the  left.  Below,  they  are 
composed  of  shales  and  marls  of  light  blue 
and  slate  colors;  and  above,  the  rocks  are 
buff  and  gray,  and  then  brown.  The  buttes 
are  buttressed  below,  where  the  azure  rocks 
are  seen,  and  terraced  above  through  the 
gray  and  brown  beds.  A  long  line  of  cliffs 
or  rock  escarpments  separate  the  table 
lands,  through  which  Gray  Canon  is  cut, 
from  the  lower  plain.  The  eye  can  trace 
these  azure  beds  and  chffs,  on  either  side  of 
the  river,  in  a  long  line,  extending  across  its 
course,  until  they  fade  away  in  the  perspec- 
tive.    These  cliffs  are  many  miles  in  length. 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     1^9 

and  hundreds  of  feet  high;  and  all  these 
buttes — great  mountain-masses  of  rock — 
are  dancing  and  fading  away,  and  re-ap- 
pearing, softly  moving  about,  or  so  they 
seem  to  the  eye,  as  seen  through  the  shifting 
atmosphere. 

This  afternoon,  our  way  is  through  a  val- 
ley, with  Cottonwood  groves  on  either  side. 
The  river  is  deep,  broad,  and  quiet. 

About  two  hours  from  noon  camp,  we  dis- 
cover an  Indian  crossing,  where  a  number  of 
rafts,  rudely  constructed  of  logs  and  bound 
together  by  withes,  are  floating  against  the 
bank.  On  landing,  we  see  evidences  that  a 
party  of  Indians  have  crossed  within  a  very 
few  days.  This  is  the  place  where  the  la- 
mented Gunnison  crossed,  in  the  year  1853, 
when  making  an  exploration  for  a  railroad 
route  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

An  hour  later,  we  run  a  long  rapid,  and 
stop  at  its  foot  to  examine  some  curious 
rocks,  deposited  by  mineral  springs  that  at 
one  time  must  have  existed  here,  but  which 
are  no  longer  flowing. 


180      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

July  14. — This  morning,  we  pass  some  cu- 
rious black  bluffs  on  the  right,  then  two  or 
three  short  canons,  and  then  we  discover  the 
mouth  of  the  San  Rafael,  a  stream  which 
comes  down  from  the  distant  mountains  in 
the  west.  Here  we  stop  for  an  hour  or  two, 
and  take  a  short  walk  up  the  valley,  and  find 
it  is  a  frequent  resort  for  Indians.  Arrow 
heads  are  scattered  about,  many  of  them 
very  beautiful.  Flint  chips  are  seen  strewn 
over  the  ground  in  great  profusion,  and  the 
trails  are  well  worn. 

Starting  after  dinner,  we  pass  some  beau- 
tiful buttes  on  the  left,  many  of  which  are 
very  symmetrical.  They  are  chiefly  com- 
posed of  gypsum  of  many  hues,  from  light 
gray  to  slate  color;  then  pink,  purple,  and 
brown  beds. 

Now,  we  enter  another  canon.  Gradually 
the  walls  rise  higher  and  higher  as  we  pro- 
ceed, and  the  summit  of  the  canon  is  formed 
of  the  same  beds  of  orange  colored  sand- 
stone. Back  from  the  brink,  the  hollows  of 
the  plateau  are  filled  with  sand  disinte- 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     131 

grated  from  these  orange  beds.  They  are  of 
rich  cream  color,  shaded  into  maroon,  every- 
where destitute  of  vegetation,  and  drifted 
into  long,  wave  like  ridges. 

The  course  of  the  river  is  tortuous,  and  it 
nearly  doubles  upon  itself  many  times.  The 
water  is  quiet,  and  constant  rowing  is  neces- 
sary to  make  much  headway.  Sometimes, 
there  is  a  narrow  flood  plain  between  the 
river  and  the  wall,  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
Where  these  long,  gentle  curves  are  foimd, 
the  river  washes  the  very  foot  of  the  outer 
wall.  A  long  peninsula  of  willow  bordered 
meadow  projects  within  the  curve,  and  the 
talus,  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  is  usually  cov- 
ered with  dwarf  oaks.  The  orange  colored 
sandstone  is  very  homogeneous  in  structure, 
and  the  walls  are  usually  vertical,  though  not 
very  high.  Where  the  river  sweeps  around 
a  curve  under  a  chff,  a  vast  hollow  dome  may 
be  seen,  with  many  caves  and  deep  alcoves, 
that  are  greatly  admired  by  the  members  of 
the  party,  as  we  go  by. 

We  camp  at  night  on  the  left  bank. 


132      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

July  15. — Our  camp  is  in  a  great  bend  of 
the  canon.  The  perimeter  of  the  curve  is  to 
the  west,  and  we  are  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river.  Just  opposite,  a  little  stream  comes 
down  through  a  narrow  side  canon.  We 
cross,  and  go  up  to  explore  it.  Just  at  its 
mouth,  another  lateral  canon  enters,  in  the 
angle  between  the  former  and  the  main 
canon  above.  Still  another  enters  in  the 
angle  between  the  canon  below  and  the  side 
canon  first  mentioned,  so  that  three  side 
canons  enter  at  the  same  point.  These 
canons  are  very  tortuous,  almost  closed  in 
from  view,  and,  seen  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  they  appear  like  three  alcoves; 
and  we  name  this  Trin- Alcove  Bend. 

Going  up  the  little  stream,  in  the  central 
cove,  we  pass  between  high  walls  of  sand- 
stone, and  wind  about  in  glens.  Springs 
gush  from  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  walls ; 
narrow  passages  in  the  rocks  are  threaded, 
caves  are  entered,  and  many  side  canons  are 
observed. 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     133 

The  right  cove  is  a  narrow,  winding  gorge, 
with  overhanging  walls,  almost  shutting  out 
the  hght. 

The  left  is  an  amphitheater,  turning 
spirally  up,  with  overhanging  shelves.  A 
series  of  basins,  filled  with  water,  are  seen  at 
different  altitudes,  as  we  pass  up ;  huge  rocks 
are  piled  below  on  the  right,  and  overhead 
there  is  an  arched  ceiling.  After  exploring 
these  alcoves,  we  recross  the  river,  and  climb 
the  rounded  rocks  on  the  point  of  the  bend. 
In  every  direction,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to 
see,  naked  rocks  appear.  Buttes  are  scat- 
tered on  the  landscape,  here  rounded  into 
cones,  there  buttressed,  columned,  and  carved 
in  quaint  shapes,  with  deep  alcoves  and 
sunken  recesses.  All  about  us  are  basins, 
excavated  in  the  soft  sandstones;  and  these 
have  been  filled  by  the  late  rains. 

Over  the  rounded  rocks  and  water  pockets 
we  look  off  on  a  fine  stretch  of  river,  and 
beyond  are  naked  rocks  and  beautiful  buttes 
to  the  Azure  Cliffs,  and  beyond  these,  and 


184  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

above  them,  the  Brown  Cliffs,  and  still  be- 
yond, mountain  peaks ;  and  clouds  piled  over 
all. 

On  we  go,  after  dinner,  with  quiet  water, 
still  compelled  to  row,  in  order  to  make  fair 
progress.     The  canon  is  yet  very  tortuous. 

About  six  miles  below  noon  camp,  we  go 
around  a  great  bend  to  the  right,  five  miles 
in  length,  and  come  back  to  a  point  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  where  we  started.  Then 
we  sweep  around  another  great  bend  to  the 
left,  making  a  circuit  of  nine  miles,  and  come 
back  to  the  point  within  six  hundred  yards  of 
the  beginning  of  the  bend.  In  the  two  cir- 
cuits, we  describe  almost  the  figure  8.  The 
men  call  it  a  bow-knot  of  river;  so  we  name 
it  Bow-Knot  Bend.  The  line  of  the  figure 
is  fourteen  miles  in  length. 

There  is  an  exquisite  charm  in  our  ride  to- 
day down  this  beautiful  canon.  It  gradu- 
ally grows  deeper  with  every  mile  of  travel; 
the  walls  are  synrnaetrically  curved,  and 
grandly  arched;  of  a  beautiful  color,  and  re- 
flected in  the  quiet  waters  in  many  places,  so 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      135 

as  to  almost  deceive  the  eye,  and  suggest  the 
thought,  to  the  beholder,  that  he  is  looking 
into  profound  depths.  We  are  all  in  fine 
spirits,  feel  very  gay,  and  the  badinage  of 
the  men  is  echoed  from  wall  to  wall.  Now 
and  then  we  whistle,  or  shout,  or  discharge  a 
pistol,  to  listen  to  the  reverberations  among 
the  cliffs. 

At  night  we  camp  on  the  south  side  of  the 
great  Bow-Knot,  and,  as  we  eat  our  supper, 
which  is  spread  on  the  beach,  we  name  this 
Labjrrinth  Canon. 

July  16. — Still  we  go  down,  on  our  wind- 
ing way.  We  pass  tower  cliffs,  then  we  find 
the  river  widens  out  for  several  miles,  and 
meadows  are  seen  on  either  side,  between  the 
river  and  the  walls.  We  name  this  expan- 
sion of  the  river  Tower  Park. 

At  two  o'clock  we  emerge  from  Labyrinth 
Canon,  and  go  into  camp. 

July  17. — The  line  which  separates 
Labyrinth  Canon  from  the  one  below  is  but 
a  line,  and  at  once,  this  morning,  we  enter 
another  canon.     The  water  fills  the  entire 


136   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

channel,  so  that  nowhere  is  there  room  to 
land.  The  walls  are  low,  but  vertical,  and, 
as  we  proceed,  they  gradually  increase  in 
altitude.  Running  a  couple  of  miles,  the 
river  changes  its  course  many  degrees,  to- 
ward the  east.  Just  here,  a  little  stream 
comes  in  on  the  right,  and  the  wall  is  broken 
down ;  so  we  land,  and  go  out  to  take  a  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  We  are  now 
down  among  the  buttes,  and  in  a  region  the 
surface  of  which  is  naked,  solid  rock — a 
beautiful  red  sandstone,  forming  a  smooth, 
undulating  pavement.  The  Indians  call 
this  the  "Toom'-pin  Tu-weap^f'  or  "Rock 
Land,"  and  the  ^'Toom'-pin  wu-near^  Tu- 
weap\"  or  "Land  of  Standing  Rock." 

Off  to  the  south  we  see  a  butte,  in  the  form 
of  a  fallen  cross.  It  is  several  miles  away, 
still  it  presents  no  inconspicuous  figure  on 
the  landscape,  and  must  be  many  hundreds 
of  feet  high,  probably  more  than  two  thou- 
sand. We  note  its  position  on  our  map,  and 
name  it  "The  Butte  of  the  Cross." 

We    continue    our   journey.     In    many 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     137 

places  the  walls,  which  rise  from  the  water's 
edge,  are  overhanging  on  either  side.  The 
stream  is  still  quiet,  and  we  glide  along, 
through  a  strange,  weird,  grand  region. 
The  landscape  everywhere,  away  from  the 
river,  is  of  rock — cliffs  of  rock;  tables  of 
rock;  plateaus  of  rock;  terraces  of  rock; 
crags  of  rock — ten  thousand  strangely 
carved  forms.  Rocks  everywhere,  and  no 
vegetation ;  no  soil ;  no  sand.  In  long,  gentle 
curves,  the  river  winds  about  these  rocks. 

When  speaking  of  these  rocks,  we  must 
not  conceive  of  piles  of  boulders,  or  heaps  of 
fragments,  but  a  whole  land  of  naked  rock, 
with  giant  forms  carved  on  it:  cathedral 
shaped  buttes,  towering  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands of  feet;  cliffs  that  cannot  be  scaled, 
and  canon  walls  that  shrink  the  river  into 
insignificance,  with  vast,  hollow  domes,  and 
tall  pinnacles,  and  shafts  set  on  the  verge 
overhead,  and  all  highly  colored — buff,  gray, 
red,  brown,  and  chocolate;  never  lichened; 
never  moss-covered;  but  bare,  and  often  pol- 
ished. 


138      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

We  pass  a  place  where  two  bends  of  the 
river  come  together,  an  intervening  rock 
having  been  worn  away,  and  a  new  channel 
formed  across.  The  old  channel  ran  in  a 
great  circle  around  to  the  right,  by  what  was 
once  a  circular  peninsula;  then  an  island; 
then  the  water  left  the  old  channel  entirely, 
and  passed  through  the  cut,  and  the  old  bed 
of  the  river  is  dry.  So  the  great  circular 
rock  stands  by  itself,  with  precipitous  walls 
all  about  it,  and  we  find  but  one  place  where 
it  can  be  scaled.  Looking  from  its  summit, 
a  long  stretch  of  river  is  seen,  sweeping  close 
to  the  overhanging  cliffs  on  the  right,  but 
having  a  little  meadow  between  it  and  the 
wall  on  the  left.  The  curve  is  very  gentle 
and  regular.    We  name  this  Bonita  Bend. 

And  just  here  we  climb  out  once  more,  to 
take  another  bearing  on  The  Butte  of  the 
Cross.  Reaching  an  eminence,  from  which 
we  can  overlook  the  landscape,  we  are  sur- 
prised to  find  that  our  butte,  with  its  wonder- 
ful form,  is  indeed  two  buttes,  one  so  stand- 
ing in  front  of  the  other  that,  from  our  last 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND     139 

point  of  view,  it  gave  the  appearance  of  a 
cross. 

Again,  a  few  miles  below  Bonita  Bend, 
we  go  out  a  mile  or  two  along  the  rocks,  to- 
ward the  Orange  Cliffs,  passing  over  ter- 
races paved  with  jasper. 

The  cliffs  are  not  far  away,  and  we  soon 
reach  them,  and  wander  in  some  deep, 
painted  alcoves,  which  attracted  our  atten- 
tion from  the  river;  then  we  return  to  our 
boats. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  the  water  becomes 
swift,  and  our  boats  make  great  speed.  An 
hour  of  this  rapid  running  brings  us  to  the 
junction  of  the  Grand  and  Green,  the  foot 
of  Stillwater  Canon,  as  we  have  named  it. 

These  streams  unite  in  solemn  depths, 
more  than  one  thousand  two  hundred  feet 
below  the  general  surface  of  the  country. 
The  walls  of  the  lower  end  of  Stillwater 
Canon  are  very  beautifully  curved,  as  the 
river  sweeps  in  its  meandering  course.  The 
lower  end  of  the  canon  through  which  the 
Grand  comes  down,  is  also  regular,  but  much 


140      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

more  direct,  and  we  look  up  this  stream,  and 
out  into  the  country  beyond,  and  obtain 
glimpses  of  snow  clad  peaks,  the  smnmits 
of  a  group  of  mountains  known  as  the  Sierra 
La  Sal.  Down  the  Colorado,  the  canon 
walls  are  much  broken. 

We  row  around  into  the  Grand,  and  camp 
on  its  northwest  bank;  and  here  we  propose 
to  stay  several  days,  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
termining the  latitude  and  longitude,  and 
the  altitude  of  the  walls.  Much  of  the  night 
is  spent  in  making  observations  with  the  sex- 
tant. 

■  The  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Uinta 
to  the  head  of  the  Canon  of  Desolation  is 
twenty  and  three-quarters  miles.  The 
Canon  of  Desolation  is  ninety-seven  miles 
long;  Gray  Canon  thirty-six.  The  course 
of  the  river  through  Gunnison's  Valley  is 
twenty-seven  and  a  quarter  miles;  Labyrinth 
Canon,  sixty-two  and  a  half  miles. 

In  the  Canon  of  Desolation,  the  highest 
rocks  immediately  over  the  river  are  about 


UINTA  RIVER  TO  THE  GRAND      141 

two  thousand  four  hundred  feet.  This  is  at 
Log  Cabin  Cliff.  The  highest  part  of  the 
terrace  is  near  the  brink  of  the  Brown  Cliffs. 
Climbing  the  immediate  walls  of  the  canon, 
and  passing  back  to  the  canon  terrace,  and 
cUmbing  that,  we  find  the  altitude,  above 
the  river,  to  be  3,300  feet.  The  lower  end  of 
Gray  Canon  is  about  2,000  feet;  the  lower 
end  of  Labyrinth  Canon,  1,300  feet. 

Stillwater  Canon  is  forty-two  and  three- 
quarters  miles  long;  the  highest  walls,  1,300 
feet. 


CHAPTER  VII 

!FEOM  THE  JUNCTION  OF  THE  GRAND  AND 
GREEN  TO  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  LITTLE 
COLORADO 

JULY  18. — The  day  is  spent  in  ob- 
taining the  time,  and  spreading  our 
rations,  which,  we  find,  are  badly  in- 
jured. The  flour  has  been  wet  and  dried 
SO  many  times  that  it  is  all  musty,  and  full 
of  hard  lumps.  We  make  a  sieve  of  mos- 
quito netting,  and  run  our  flour  through  it, 
losing  more  than  two  hundred  pounds  by 
the  process.  Our  losses,  by  the  wrecking 
of  the  No  Name,  and  by  various  mishaps 
since,  together  with  the  amount  thrown 
away  to-day,  leave  us  httle  more  than  two 
months'  supplies,  and,  to  make  them  last 
thus  long,  we  must  be  fortunate  enough  to 
lose  no  more. 

142 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      lifd 

We  drag  our  boats  on  shore,  and  turn 
them  over  to  recalk  and  pitch  them,  and 
Smnner  is  engaged  in  repairing  barometers. 
While  we  are  here,  for  a  day  or  two,  resting, 
we  propose  to  put  everything  in  the  best 
shape  for  a  vigorous  campaign. 

July  19. — Bradley  and  I  start  this  morn- 
ing to  chmb  the  left  wall  below  the  junction. 
The  way  we  have  selected  is  up  a  gulch. 
Climbing  for  an  hour  over  and  among  the 
rocks,  we  find  ourselves  in  a  vast  amphithe- 
ater, and  our  way  cut  off.  We  clamber 
around  to  the  left  for  half  an  hour,  until 
we  find  that  we  cannot  go  up  in  that  direc- 
tion. Then  we  try  the  rocks  around  to  the 
right,  and  discover  a  narrow  shelf,  nearly 
half  a  mile  long.  In  some  places,  this  is 
so  wide  that  we  pass  along  with  ease ;  in  oth- 
ers, it  is  so  narrow  and  sloping  that  we  are 
compelled  to  lie  down  and  crawl.  We  can 
look  over  the  edge  of  the  shelf,  down  eight 
hundred  feet,  and  see  the  river  rolling  and 
plunging  among  the  rocks.  Looking  up 
five  hundred  feet,  to  the  brink  of  the  cliff. 


U4i     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

it  seems  to  blend  with  the  sky.  We  continue 
along,  until  we  come  to  a  point  where  the 
wall  is  again  broken  down.  Up  we  climb. 
On  the  right,  there  is  a  narrow,  mural  point 
of  rocks,  extending  toward  the  river,  two 
or  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  six  or  eight 
hundred  feet  long.  We  come  back  to 
where  this  sets  in,  and  find  it  cut  off  from 
the  main  wall  by  a  great  crevice.  Into  this 
we  pass.  And  now,  a  long,  narrow  rock  is 
between  us  and  the  river.  The  rock  itself 
is  split  longitudinally  and  transversely;  and 
the  rains  on  the  surface  above  have  run  down 
through  the  crevices,  and  gathered  into 
channels  below,  and  then  run  off  into  the 
river.  The  crevices  are  usually  narrow 
above,  and,  by  erosion  of  the  streams,  wider 
below,  forming  a  network  of  caves ;  but  each 
cave  having  a  narrow,  winding  sky-light  up 
through  the  rocks. 

We  wander  among  these  corridors  for  an 
hour  or  two,  but  find  no  place  where  the 
rocks  are  broken  down,  so  that  we  can  climb 
up.     At  last,  we  determine  to  attempt  a  pas- 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      145 

sage  by  a  crevice,  and  select  one  which  we 
think  is  wide  enough  to  admit  of  the  pas- 
sage of  our  bodies,  and  yet  narrow  enough 
to  climb  out  by  pressing  our  hands  and  feet 
against  the  walls.  So  we  climb  as  men 
would  out  of  a  well.  Bradley  climbs  first; 
I  hand  him  the  barometer,  then  climb  over 
his  head,  and  he  hands  me  the  barometer. 
So  we  pass  each  other  alternately,  until  we 
emerge  from  the  fissure,  out  on  the  summit 
of  the  rock.  And  what  a  world  of  gran- 
deur is  spread  before  us!  Below  is  the 
canon,  through  which  the  Colorado  runs. 
We  can  trace  its  course  for  miles,  and  at 
points  catch  glimpses  of  the  river.  From 
the  northwest  comes  the  Green,  in  a  narrow, 
winding  gorge.  From  the  northeast  comes 
the  Grand,  through  a  canon  that  seems  bot- 
tomless from  where  we  stand.  Away  to 
the  west  are  lines  of  cliffs  and  ledges  of 
rock — not  such  ledges  as  you  may  have  seen 
where  the  quarryman  splits  his  blocks,  but 
ledges  from  which  the  gods  might  quarry 
mountains,  that,  rolled  out  on  the  plain  be- 


146     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

low,  would  stand  a  lofty  range ;  and  not  such 
cliffs  as  you  may  have  seen  where  the  swal- 
low builds  its  nest,  but  chffs  where  the  soar- 
ing eagle  is  lost  to  view  ere  he  reaches  the 
summit. 

Between  us  and  the  distant  cliffs  are  the 
strangely  carved  and  pinnacled  rocks  of  the 
Toom'-pin  wu-neaf  Tu-weap',  On  the 
summit  of  the  opposite  wall  of  the  canon  are 
rock  forms  that  we  do  not  understand. 
Away  to  the  east  a  group  of  eruptive  moim- 
tains  are  seen — the  Sierra  La  Sal.  Their 
slopes  are  covered  with  pines,  and  deep 
gulches  are  flanked  with  great  crags,  and 
snow  fields  are  seen  near  the  summits.  So 
the  mountains  are  in  uniform,  green,  gray, 
and  silver.  Wherever  we  look  there  is  but 
a  wilderness  of  rocks;  deep  gorges,  where 
the  rivers  are  lost  below  cliffs  and  towers 
and  pinnacles;  and  ten  thousand  strangely 
carved  forms  in  every  direction ;  and  beyond 
them,  mountains  blending  with  the  clouds. 

Now  we  return  to  camp.    While  we  are 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      U1 

eating  supper,  we  very  naturally  speak  of 
better  fare,  as  musty  bread  and  spoiled  bacon 
are  not  pleasant.  Soon  I  see  Hawkins 
down  by  the  boat,  taking  up  the  sextant, 
rather  a  strange  proceeding  for  him,  and 
I  question  him  concerning  it.  He  replies 
that  he  is  trying  to  find  the  latitude  and  long- 
itude of  the  nearest  pie. 

July  20. — This  morning.  Captain  Powell 
and  I  go  out  to  climb  the  west  wall  of  the 
canon,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
strange  rocks  seen  yesterday  from  the  other 
side.  Two  hours  bring  us  to  the  top,  at  a 
point  between  the  Green  and  Colorado,  over- 
looking the  junction  of  the  rivers.  A  long 
neck  of  rock  extends  toward  the  mouth  of 
the  Grand.  Out  on  this  we  walk,  crossing 
a  great  number  of  deep  crevices.  Usually, 
the  smooth  rock  slopes  down  to  the  fissure 
on  either  side.  Sometimes  it  is  an  interest- 
ing question  to  us  whether  the  slope  is  not 
so  steep  that  we  cannot  stand  on  it.  Some- 
times, starting  down,  we  are  compelled  to 


148     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

go  on,  and  we  are  not  always  sure  that  the 
crevice  is  not  too  wide  for  a  jump,  when  we 
measure  it  with  our  eye  from  above. 

Probably  the  slopes  would  not  be  difficult 
if  there  was  not  a  fissure  at  the  lower  end; 
nor  would  the  fissures  cause  fear  if  they 
were  but  a  few  feet  deep.  It  is  curious  how  a 
little  obstacle  becomes  a  great  obstruction, 
when  a  misstep  would  land  a  man  in  the 
bottom  of  a  deep  chasm.  Climbing  the  face 
of  a  cliff,  a  man  will  walk  along  a  step  or 
shelf,  but  a  few  inches  wide,  without  hesi- 
tancy, if  the  landing  is  but  ten  feet  below, 
should  he  fall;  but  if  the  foot  of  the  chff  is 
a  thousand  feet  down,  he  will  crawl.  At 
last  our  way  is  cut  off  by  a  fissure  so  deep  and 
wide  that  we  cannot  pass  it.  Then  we  turn 
and  walk  back  into  the  country,  over  the 
smooth,  naked  sandstone,  without  vegeta- 
tion, except  that  here  and  there  dwarf  cedars 
and  pinon  pines  have  found  a  footing  in  the 
huge  cracks.  There  are  great  basins  in  the 
rock,  holding  water ;  some  but  a  few  gallons, 
others  hundreds  of  barrels. 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      14*9 

The  day  is  spent  in  walking  about  through 
these  strange  scenes.  A  narrow  gulch  is  cut 
into  the  wall  of  the  main  canon.  Follow 
this  up,  and  you  climb  rapidly,  as  if  going 
up  a  mountain  side,  for  the  gulch  heads  but 
a  few  hundred  or  a  few  thousand  yards  from 
the  wall.  But  this  gulch  has  its  side  gulches, 
and,  as  you  come  near  to  the  summit,  a  group 
of  radiating  canons  is  found.  The  spaces 
drained  by  these  little  canons  are  terraced, 
and  are,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  the 
form  of  amphitheaters,  though  some  are  ob- 
long and  some  rather  irregular.  Usually,  the 
spaces  drained  by  any  two  of  these  little  side 
canons  are  separated  by  a  narrow  wall,  one, 
two,  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  often 
but  a  few  feet  in  thickness.  Sometimes  the 
wall  is  broken  into  a  line  of  pyramids  above, 
and  still  remains  a  wall  below.  Now,  there 
are  a  number  of  these  gulches  which  break 
the  wall  of  the  main  canon  of  the  Green, 
each  one  having  its  system  of  side  canons 
and  amphitheaters,  inclosed  by  walls,  or  lines 
of  pinnacles. 


150      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

The  course  of  the  Green,  at  this  point,  is 
approximately  at  right  angles  to  that  of  the 
Colorado,  and  on  the  brink  of  the  latter 
canon  we  find  the  same  system  of  terraced 
and  walled  glens.  The  walls,  and  pinnacles, 
and  towers  are  of  sandstone,  homogeneous  in 
structure,  but  not  in  color,  as  they  show 
broad  bands  of  red,  buff,  and  gray.  This 
painting  of  the  rocks,  dividing  them  into  sec- 
tions, increases  their  apparent  height.  In 
some  places,  these  terraced  and  walled  glens, 
along  the  Colorado,  have  coalesced  with 
those  along  the  Green;  that  is,  the  inter- 
vening walls  are  broken  down.  It  is  very 
rarely  that  a  loose  rock  is  seen.  The  sand 
is  washed  off  so  that  the  walls,  terraces,  and 
slopes  of  the  glens  are  all  of  smooth  sand- 
stone. 

In  the  walls  themselves,  curious  caves  and 
channels  have  been  carved.  In  some  places, 
there  are  little  stairways  up  the  walls;  in 
others,  the  walls  present  what  are  known  as 
royal  arches;  and  so  we  wander  through 
glens,  and  among  pinnacles,  and  climb  the 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      151 

walls  from  early  morn  until  late  in  the  after- 
noon. 

July  21. — We  start  this  morning  on  the 
Colorado.  The  river  is  rough,  and  bad  rap- 
ids, in  close  succession,  are  found.  Two 
very  hard  portages  are  made  during  the  fore- 
noon. After  dinner,  in  running  a  rapid,  the 
Emma  Dean  is  swamped,  and  we  are  thrown 
into  the  river,  we  cling  to  her,  and  in  the 
first  quiet  water  below  she  is  righted  and 
bailed  out;  but  three  oars  are  lost  in  the 
mishap.  The  larger  boats  land  above  the 
dangerous  place,  and  we  make  a  portage, 
that  occupies  all  the  afternoon.  We  camp 
at  night,  on  the  rocks  on  the  left  bank,  and 
can  scarcely  find  room  to  lie  down. 

July  22. — This  morning,  we  continue  our 
journey,  though  short  of  oars.  There  is  no 
timber  growing  on  the  walls  within  our 
reach,  and  no  drift  wood  along  the  banks, 
so  we  are  compelled  to  go  on  until  something 
suitable  can  be  found.  A  mile  and  three 
quarters  below,  we  find  a  huge  pile  of  drift 
wood,  among  which  are  some  cottonwood 


162      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

logs.  From  these  we  select  one  which  we 
think  the  best,  and  the  men  are  set  at  work 
sawing  oars.  Our  boats  are  leaking  again, 
from  the  strains  received  in  the  bad  rapids 
yesterday,  so,  after  dinner,  they  are  turned 
over,  and  some  of  the  men  are  engaged  in 
calking  them. 

Captain  Powell  and  I  go  out  to  climb  the 
wall  to  the  east,  for  we  can  see  dwarf  pines 
above,  and  it  is  our  purpose  to  collect  the 
resin  which  oozes  from  them,  to  use  in  pitch- 
ing our  boats.  We  take  a  barometer  with 
us,  and  find  that  the  walls  are  becoming 
higher,  for  now  they  register  an  altitude, 
above  the  river,  of  nearly  fifteen  hundred 
feet. 

July  23. — On  starting,  we  come  at  once 
to  difiicult  rapids  and  falls,  that,  in  many 
places,  are  more  abrupt  than  in  any  of  the 
canons  through  which  we  have  passed,  and 
we  decide  to  name  this  Cataract  Canon. 

From  morning  until  noon,  the  course  of 
the  river  is  to  the  west ;  the  scenery  is  grand, 
with  rapids  and  falls  below,  and  walls  above. 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      153 

beset  with  crags  and  pinnacles.  Just  at 
noon  we  wheel  again  to  the  south,  and  go 
into  camp  for  dinner. 

While  the  cook  is  preparing  it,  Bradley, 
Captain  Powell,  and  myself  go  up  into  a 
side  canon,  that  comes  in  at  this  point.  We 
enter  through  a  very  narrow  passage,  having 
to  wade  along  the  course  of  a  little  stream 
until  a  cascade  interrupts  our  progress. 
Then  we  climb  to  the  right,  for  a  himdred 
feet,  until  we  reach  a  little  shelf,  along  which 
we  pass,  walking  with  great  care,  for  it  is 
narrow,  until  we  pass  around  the  fall.  Here 
the  gorge  widens  into  a  spacious,  sky  roofed 
chamber.  In  the  farther  end  is  a  beautiful 
grove  of  cottonwoods,  and  between  us  and 
the  cottonwoods  the  little  stream  widens  out 
into  three  clear  lakelets,  with  bottonls  of 
smooth  rock.  Beyond  the  cottonwoods,  the 
brook  tumbles,  in  a  series  of  white,  shining 
cascades,  from  heights  that  seem  immeasura- 
ble. Turning  around,  we  can  look  through 
the  cleft  through  which  we  came,  and  see 
the    river,    with    towering    walls    beyond. 


154   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

What  a  chamber  for  a  resting  place  is  this! 
hewn  from  the  soHd  rock;  the  heavens  for 
a  ceiling;  cascade  fountains  within;  a  grove 
in  the  conservatory,  clear  lakelets  for  a  re- 
freshing bath,  and  an  outlook  through  the 
doorway  on  a  raging  river,  with  cliflPs  and 
mountains  beyond. 

Our  way,  after  dinner,  is  through  a  gorge, 
grand  beyond  description.  The  walls  are 
nearly  vertical;  the  river  broad  and  swift, 
but  free  from  rocks  and  falls.  From  the 
edge  of  the  water  to  the  brink  of  the  cliffs 
it  is  one  thousand  six  hundred  to  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  feet.  At  this  great 
depth,  the  river  rolls  in  solemn  majesty. 
The  cliffs  are  reflected  from  the  more  quiet 
river,  and  we  seem  to  be  in  the  depths  of 
the  earth,  and  yet  can  look  down  into  the 
waters  that  reflect  a  bottomless  abyss.  We 
arrive,  early  in  the  afternoon,  at  the  head  of 
more  rapids  and  falls,  but,  wearied  with  past 
work,  we  determine  to  rest,  so  go  into  camp, 
and  the  afternoon  and  evening  are  spent  by 
the  men  in  discussing  the  probabihties  of 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      1651 

sucessf  ully  navigating  the  river  below.  The 
barometric  records  are  examined,  to  see  what 
descent  we  have  made  since  we  left  the  mouth 
of  the  Grand,  and  what  descent  since  we 
left  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  what  fall  there 
yet  must  be  to  the  river,  ere  we  reach  the  end 
of  the  great  canons.  The  conclusion  to 
which  the  men  arrive  seems  to  be  about  this : 
that  there  are  great  descents  yet  to  be  made, 
but,  if  they  are  distributed  in  rapids  and 
short  falls,  as  they  have  been  heretofore,  we 
will  be  able  to  overcome  them.  But,  may 
be,  we  shall  come  to  a  fall  in  these  canons 
which  we  cannot  pass,  where  the  walls  rise 
from  the  water's  edge,  so  that  we  cannot 
land,  and  where  the  water  is  so  swift  that 
we  cannot  return.  Such  places  have  been 
found,  except  that  the  falls  were  not  so 
great  but  that  we  could  run  them  with  safety. 
How  will  it  be  in  the  future !  So  they  specu- 
late over  the  serious  probabilities  in  jesting 
mood,  and  I  hear  Sumner  remark,  **My  idea 
is,  we  had  better  go  slow,  and  learn  to  ped- 
dle." 


156      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

July  24i. — ^We  examine  the  rapids  below. 
Large  rocks  have  fallen  from  the  walls — 
great,  angular  blocks,  which  have  rolled 
down  the  talus,  and  are  strewn  along  the 
channel.  We  are  compelled  to  make  three 
portages  in  succession,  the  distance  being 
less  than  three-fourths  of  a  mile,  with  a  fall 
of  seventy-five  feet.  Among  these  rocks, 
in  chutes,  whirlpools,  and  great  waves,  with 
rushing  breakers  and  foam,  the  water  finds 
its  way,  still  tumbling  down.  We  stop  for 
the  night,  only  three-fourths  of  a  mile  be- 
low the  last  camp.  A  very  hard  day's  work 
has  been  done,  and  at  evening  I  sit  on  a 
rock  by  the  edge  of  the  river,  to  look  at  the 
water,  and  listen  to  its  roar.  Hours  ago, 
deep  shadows  had  settled  into  the  canon 
as  the  sun  passed  behind  the  cliffs.  Now, 
doubtless,  the  sun  has  gone  down,  for  we 
can  see  no  gUnt  of  light  on  the  crags  above. 
Darkness  is  coming  on.  The  waves  are  roll- 
ing, with  crests  of  foam  so  white  they  seem 
almost  to  give  a  light  of  their  own.  Near  by, 
a  chute  of  water  strikes  the  foot  of  a  great 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      167 

block  of  limestone,  fifty  feet  high,  and  the 
waters  pile  up  against  it,  and  roll  back. 
Where  there  are  sunken  rocks,  the  water 
heaps  up  in  mounds,  or  even  in  cones.  At 
a  point  where  rocks  come  very  near  the  sur- 
face, the  water  forms  a  chute  above,  strikes, 
and  is  shot  up  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  and  piles 
back  in  gentle  curves,  as  in  a  fountain;  and 
on  the  river  tumbles  and  rolls. 

July  25. — Still  more  rapids  and  falls  to- 
day. In  one,  the  Emma  Dean  is  caught 
in  a  whirlpool,  and  set  spinning  about;  and 
it  is  with  great  difficulty  we  are  able  to  get 
out  of  it,  with  the  loss  of  an  oar.  At  noon, 
another  is  made;  and  on  we  go,  running 
some  of  the  rapids,  letting  down  with  lines 
past  others,  and  making  two  short  portages. 
We  camp  on  the  right  bank,  hungry  and 
tired. 

July  26. — We  run  a  short  distance  this 
morning,  and  go  into  camp,  to  make  oars 
and  repair  boats  and  barometers.  The 
walls  of  the  canon  have  been  steadily  increas- 
ing in  altitude  to  this  point,  and  now  they 


158   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

are  more  than  two  thousand  feet  high.  In 
many  places,  they  are  vertical  from  the 
water's  edge;  in  others,  there  is  a  talus  be- 
tween the  river  and  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  and 
they  are  often  broken  down  by  side  canons. 
It  is  probable  that  the  river  is  nearly  as  low 
now  as  it  is  ever  found.  High  water  mark 
can  be  observed  forty,  fifty,  sixty,  or  a  hun- 
dred feet  above  its  present  stage.  Sometimes 
logs  and  drift  wood  are  seen  wedged  into  the 
crevice  overhead,  where  floods  have  carried 
them. 

About  ten  o'clock,  Powell,  Bradley,  How- 
land,  Hall,  and  myself  start  up  a  side  canon 
to  the  east.  We  soon  come  to  pools  of 
water;  then  to  a  brook,  which  is  lost  in  the 
sands  below;  and,  passing  up  the  brook,  we 
find  the  canon  narrows,  the  walls  close  in, 
are  often  overhanging,  and  at  last  we  find 
ourselves  in  a  vast  amphitheater,  with  a  pool 
of  deep,  clear,  cold  water  on  the  bottom. 
At  first,  our  way  seems  cut  off ;  but  we  soon 
discover  a  little  shelf,  along  which  we  climb, 
and,  passing  beyond  the  pool,  walk  a  hun- 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO       159 

dred  yards  or  more,  turn  to  the  right,  and 
find  ourselves  in  another  dome-shaped  am- 
phitheater. There  is  a  winding  cleft  at  the 
top,  reaching  out  to  the  country  above, 
nearly  two  thousand  feet  overhead.  The 
rounded,  basin  shaped  bottom  is  filled  with 
water  to  the  foot  of  the  walls.  There  is 
no  shelf  by  which  we  can  pass  around  the 
foot.  If  we  swim  across,  we  meet  with  a 
face  of  rock  hundreds  of  feet  high,  over 
which  a  little  rill  glides,  and  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  cUmb.  So  we  can  go  no  further 
up  this  canon.  Then  we  turn  back,  and 
examine  the  walls  on  either  side  carefully, 
to  discover,  if  possible,  some  way  of  climbing 
out. 

In  this  search,  every  man  takes  his  own 
course,  and  we  are  scattered.  I  almost  aban- 
don the  idea  of  getting  out,  and  am  engaged 
in  searching  for  fossils,  when  I  discover,  on 
the  north,  a  broken  place,  up  which  it  may 
be  possible  for  me  to  climb.  The  way,  for 
a  distance,  is  up  a  slide  of  rocks;  then  up 
an  irregular  amphitheater,  on  points  that 


160      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

form  steps  and  give  handhold,  and  then  I 
reach  a  httle  shelf,  along  which  I  walk,  and 
discover  a  vertical  fissure,  parallel  to  the 
face  of  the  wall,  and  reaching  to  a  higher 
shelf.  This  fissure  is  narrow,  and  I  try  to 
climb  up  to  the  bench,  which  is  about  forty- 
feet  overhead.  I  have  a  barometer  on  my 
back,  which  rather  impedes  my  climbing. 
The  walls  of  the  fissure  are  of  smooth  lime- 
stone, offering  neither  foot  nor  hand  hold. 
So  I  support  myself  by  pressing  my  back 
against  one  wall  and  my  knees  against  the 
other,  and,  in  this  way,  lift  my  body,  in  a 
shuffling  manner,  a  few  inches  at  a  time, 
imtil  I  have,  perhaps,  made  twenty-five  feet 
of  the  distance,  when  the  crevice  widens  a 
little,  and  I  cannot  press  my  knees  against 
the  rocks  in  front  with  sufficient  power  to 
give  me  support  in  Hfting  my  body,  and  I 
try  to  go  back.  This  I  cannot  do  without 
falling.  So  I  struggle  along  sidewise, 
farther  into  the  crevice,  where  it  narrows. 
But  by  this  time  my  muscles  are  exhausted, 
and  I  cannot  chmb  longer;  so  I  move  stiU 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      161 

a  little  farther  into  the  crevice,  where  it  is 
so  narrow  and  wedging  that  I  can  lie  in  it, 
and  there  I  rest. 

Five  or  ten  minutes  of  this  relief,  and  up 
once  more  I  go,  and  reach  the  bench  above. 
On  this  I  can  walk  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
till  I  come  to  a  place  where  the  wall  is  again 
broken  down,  so  that  I  can  climb  up  still 
farther,  and  in  an  hour  I  reach  the  summit. 
I  hang  up  my  barometer,  to  give  it  a  few 
minutes'  time  to  settle,  and  occupy  myself 
in  collecting  resin  from  the  pinon  pines, 
which  are  foimd  in  great  abundance.  One 
of  the  principal  objects  in  making  this  climb 
was  to  get  this  resin,  for  the  purpose  of 
smearing  our  boats;  but  I  have  with  me  no 
means  of  carrying  it  down.  The  day  is  very 
hot,  and  my  coat  was  left  in  camp,  so  I  have 
no  linings  to  tear  out.  Then  it  occurs  to 
me  to  cut  off  the  sleeve  of  my  shirt,  tie  it 
up  at  one  end,  and  in  this  little  sack  I  collect 
about  a  gallon  of  pitch. 

After  taking  observations  for  altitude,  I 
wander  back  on  the  rock,  for  an  hour  or 


162   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

two,  when  suddenly  I  notice  that  a  storm 
is  coming  from  the  south.  I  seek  a  shelter 
in  the  rocks;  but  when  the  storm  bursts,  it 
comes  down  as  a  flood  from  the  heavens,  not 
with  gentle  drops  at  first,  slowly  increasing 
in  quantity,  but  as  if  suddenly  poured  out. 
I  am  thoroughly  drenched,  and  almost 
washed  away.  It  lasts  not  more  than  half 
an  hour,  when  the  clouds  sweep  by  to  the 
north,  and  I  have  sunshine  again. 

In  the  meantime,  I  have  discovered  a  bet- 
ter way  of  getting  down,  and  I  start  for 
camp,  making  the  greatest  haste  possible. 
On  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  side  canon, 
I  find  a  thousand  streams  rolling  down  the 
cliffs  on  every  side,  carrying  with  them  red 
sand ;  and  these  all  unite  in  the  canon  below, 
in  one  great  stream  of  red  mud. 

Traveling  as  fast  as  I  can  run,  I  soon  reach 
the  foot  of  the  stream,  for  the  rain  did  not 
reach  the  lower  end  of  the  canon,  and  the 
water  is  running  down  a  dry  bed  of  sand; 
and,  although  it  comes  in  waves,  several  feet 
high  and  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  in  width, 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      163 

the  sands  soak  it  up,  and  it  is  lost.  But 
wave  follows  wave,  and  rolls  along,  and  is 
swallowed  up;  and  still  the  floods  come  on 
from  above.  I  find  that  I  can  travel  faster 
than  the  stream;  so  I  hasten  to  camp,  and 
tell  the  men  there  is  a  river  coming  down 
the  canon.  We  carry  our  camp  equipage 
hastily  from  the  bank,  to  where  we  think  it 
will  be  above  the  water.  Then  we  stand  by, 
and  see  the  river  roll  on  to  join  the  Colo- 
rado. Great  quantities  of  gypsum  are 
found  at  the  bottom  of  the  gorge ;  so  we  name 
it  Gypsum  Canon. 

July  27. — ^We  have  more  rapids  and  falls 
until  noon;  then  we  come  to  a  narrow  place 
in  the  canon,  with  vertical  walls  for  sev- 
eral hundred  feet,  above  which  are  steep 
steps  and  sloping  rocks  back  to  the  smnmits. 
The  river  is  very  narrow,  and  we  make  our 
way  with  great  care  and  much  anxiety,  hug- 
ging the  wall  on  the  left,  and  carefully  ex- 
amining the  way  before  us. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  we  pass  to  the  left, 
around  a  sharp  point,  which  is  somewhat 


164«      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

broken  down  near  the  foot,  and  discover  a 
flock  of  mountain  sheep  on  the  rocks,  more 
than  a  himdred  feet  above  us.  We  quickly 
land  in  a  cove,  out  of  sight,  and  away  go 
all  the  hunters  with  their  guns,  for  the  sheep 
have  not  discovered  us.  Soon,  we  hear  fir- 
ing, and  those  of  us  who  have  remained  in 
the  boats  climb  up  to  see  what  success  the 
hunters  have  had.  One  sheep  has  been 
killed,  and  two  of  the  men  are  still  pursuing 
them.  In  a  few  minutes,  we  hear  firing 
again,  and  the  next  moment  down  come  the 
flock,  clattering  over  the  rocks,  within 
twenty  yards  of  us.  One  of  the  hunters 
seizes  his  gun,  and  brings  a  second  sheep 
down,  and  the  next  minute  the  remainder 
of  the  flock  is  lost  behind  the  rocks.  We 
all  give  chase ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  follow 
their  tracks  over  the  naked  rock,  and  we 
see  them  no  more.  Where  they  went  out 
of  this  rock  walled  canon  is  a  mystery,  for 
we  can  see  no  way  of  escape.  Doubtless, 
if  we  could  spare  the  time  for  the  search. 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      165 

we  could  find  some  gulch  up  which  they 
ran. 

We  lash  our  prizes  to  the  deck  of  one  of 
the  boats,  and  go  on  for  a  short  distance; 
but  fresh  meat  is  too  tempting  for  us,  and  we 
stop  early  to  have  a  feast.  And  a  feast  it 
is!  Two  fine,  young  sheep.  We  care  not 
for  bread,  or  beans,  or  dried  apples  to-night; 
coffee  and  mutton  is  all  we  ask. 

July  28. — ^We  make  two  portages  this 
morning,  one  of  them  very  long.  During 
the  afternoon  we  run  a  chute,  more  than 
half  a  mile  in  length,  narrow  and  rapid. 
This  chute  has  a  floor  of  marble;  the  rocks 
dip  in  the  direction  in  which  we  are  going, 
and  the  fall  of  the  stream  conforms  to  the 
inclination  of  the  beds ;  so  we  float  on  water 
that  is  gliding  down  an  inclined  plane.  At 
the  foot  of  the  chute,  the  river  turns  sharply 
to  the  right,  and  the  water  rolls  up  against 
a  rock  which,  from  above,  seems  to  stand 
directly  athwart  its  course.  As  we  approach 
it,  we  pull  with  all  our  power  to  the  right, 


166   FIRST  THROUGH  GHANB  CANYON 

but  it  seems  impossible  to  avoid  being  car- 
ried headlong  against  the  cliff,  and  we  are 
carried  up  high  on  the  waves — ^not  against 
the  rocks,  for  the  rebounding  water  strikes 
us,  and  we  are  beaten  back,  and  pass  on  with 
safety,  except  that  we  get  a  good  drench- 
ing. 

After  this,  the  walls  suddenly  close  in,  so 
that  the  canon  is  narrower  than  we  have 
ever  known  it.  The  water  fills  it  from  wall 
to  wall,  giving  us  no  landing  place  at  the 
foot  of  the  cliff;  the  river  is  very  swift,  the 
canon  is  very  tortuous,  so  that  we  can  see 
but  a  few  hundred  yards  ahead;  the  walls 
tower  over  us,  often  overhanging  so  as  to 
almost  shut  out  the  light.  I  stand  on  deck, 
watching  with  intense  anxiety,  lest  this  may 
lead  us  into  some  danger ;  but  we  glide  along, 
with  no  obstruction,  no  falls,  no  rocks,  and, 
in  a  mile  and  a  half,  emerge  from  the  narrow 
gorge  into  a  more  open  and  broken  portion 
of  the  canon.  Now  that  it  is  past,  it  seems 
a  very  simple  thing  indeed  to  run  through 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      167 

such  a  place,  but  the  fear  of  what  might  he 
ahead  made  a  deep  impression  on  us. 

At  three  o'clock  we  arrive  at  the  foot  of 
Cataract  Canon.  Here  a  long  canon  valley 
comes  down  from  the  east,  and  the  river  turns 
sharply  to  the  west  in  a  continuation  of  the 
line  of  the  lateral  valley.  In  the  bend  on 
the  right,  vast  numbers  of  crags,  and  pinna- 
cles, and  tower  shaped  rocks  are  seen.  We 
call  it  Mille  Crag  Bend. 

And  now  we  wheel  into  another  caiion,  on 
swift  water,  imobstructed  by  rocks.  This 
new  canon  is  very  narrow  and  very  straight, 
with  walls  vertical  below  and  terraced 
above.  The  brink  of  the  chfF  is  1,300  feet 
above  the  water,  where  we  enter  it,  but  the 
rocks  dip  to  the  west,  and,  as  the  course  of 
the  canon  is  in  that  direction,  the  walls  are 
seen  to  slowly  decrease  in  altitude.  Float- 
ing down  this  narrow  channel,  and  looking 
out  through  the  caiion  crevice  away  in  the 
distance,  the  river  is  seen  to  turn  again  to  the 
left,  and  beyond  this  point,  away  many  miles, 


168      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

a  great  mountain  is  seen.  Still  floating 
down,  we  see  other  mountains,  now  to  the 
right,  now  on  the  left,  until  a  great  moun- 
tain range  is  unfolded  to  view.  We  name 
this  Narrow  Canon,  and  it  terminates  at  the 
bend  of  the  river  below. 

As  we  go. down  to  this  point,  we  discover 
the  mouth  of  a  stream,  which  enters  from  the 
right.  Into  this  our  little  boat  is  turned. 
One  of  the  men  in  the  boat  following,  see- 
ing what  we  have  done,  shouts  to  Dunn, 
asking  if  it  is  a  trout-stream.  Dunn  replies, 
much  disgusted,  that  it  is  "a  dirty  devil," 
and  by  this  name  the  river  is  to  be  known 
hereafter.*  The  water  is  exceedingly 
muddy,  and  has  an  impleasant  odor. 

Some  of  us  go  out  for  half  a  mile,  and 
climb  a  butte  to  the  north.  The  course  of 
the  Dirty  Devil  River  can  be  traced  for 
many  miles.  It  comes  down  through  a  very 
narrow  canon,  and  beyond  it,  to  the  south- 
west, there  is  a  long  line  of  cliffs,  with  a 
broad  terrace,  or  bench,  between  it  and  the 

•Powell  afterwards  renamed  it  Fr6mont  River.    (Ed,) 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      169 

brink  of  the  canon,  and  beyond  these  cliffs 
is  situated  the  range  of  mountains  seen  as 
we  came  down  Narrow  Canon. 

Looking  up  the  Colorado,  the  chasm 
through  which  it  runs  can  be  seen,  but  we 
cannot  look  down  on  its  waters.  The  whole 
country  is  a  region  of  naked  rock,  of  many 
colors,  with  cliffs  and  buttes  about  us,  and 
towering  mountains  in  the  distance. 

July  29. — ^We  enter  a  canon  to-day,  with 
low,  red  walls.  A  short  distance  below  its 
head  we  discover  the  ruins  of  an  old  build- 
ing, on  the  left  wall.  There  is  a  narrow 
plain  between  the  river  and  the  wall  just 
here,  and  on  the  brink  of  a  rock  two  hun- 
dred feet  high  stands  this  old  house.  Its 
walls  are  of  stone,  laid  in  mortar,  with  much 
regularity.  It  was  probably  built  three 
stories  high;  the  lower  story  is  yet  almost 
intact;  the  second  is  much  broken  down,  and 
scarcely  anything  is  left  of  the  third.  Great 
quantities  of  flint  chips  are  found  on  the 
rocks  near  by,  and  many  arrow  heads,  some 
perfect,  others  broken;  and  fragments  of 


170      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

pottery  are  strewn  about  in  great  profusion. 
On  the  face  of  the  cliff,  under  the  building, 
and  along  down  the  river,  for  two  or  three 
hundred  yards,  there  are  many  etchings. 
Two  hours  are  given  to  the  examination  of 
these  interesting  ruins,  then  we  run  down 
fifteen  miles  farther,  and  discover  another 
group.  The  principal  building  was  situ- 
ated on  the  summit  of  the  hill.  A  part  of 
the  walls  are  standing,  to  the  height  of  eight 
or  ten  feet,  and  the  mortar  yet  remains,  in 
some  places.  The  house  was  in  the  shape 
of  an  L,  with  five  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor,  one  in  the  angle,  and  two  in  each  ex- 
tension. In  the  space  in  the  angle,  there  is 
a  deep  excavation.  From  what  we  know 
of  the  people  in  the  province  of  Tusayan, 
who  are,  doubtless,  of  the  same  race  as  the 
former  inhabitants  of  these  ruins,  we  con- 
clude that  this  was  a  "kiva,"  or  underground 
chamber,  in  which  their  religious  ceremonies 
were  performed. 

We  leave  these  ruins,  and  run  down  two 
or  three  miles,  and  go  into  camp  about  mid- 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      171 

afternoon.     And  now  I  climb  the  wall  and 
go  out  into  the  back  country  for  a  walk. 

The  sandstone,  through  which  the  canon 
is  cut,  is  red  and  homogeneous,  being  the 
same  as  that  through  which  Labyrinth 
runs.  The  smooth,  naked  rock  stretches 
out  on  either  side  of  the  river  for  many  miles, 
but  curiously  carved  mounds  and  cones  are 
scattered  everywhere,  and  deep  holes  are 
worn  out.  Many  of  these  pockets  are  filled 
with  water.  In  one  of  these  holes,  or  wells, 
twenty  feet  deep,  I  find  a  tree  growing. 
The  excavation  is  so  narrow  that  I  can  step 
from  its  brink  to  a  limb  on  the  tree,  and 
descend  to  the  bottom  of  the  well  down  a 
growing  ladder.  Many  of  these  pockets  are 
pot-holes,  being  found  in  the  courses  of  little 
rills,  or  brooks,  that  run  during  the  rains 
which  occasionally  fall  in  this  region;  and 
often  a  few  harder  rocks,  which  evidently 
assisted  in  their  excavation,  can  be  found  in 
their  bottoms.  Others,  which  are  shallower, 
are  not  so  easily  explained.  Perhaps  they 
are  found  where  softer  spots  existed  in  the 


m      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

sandstone,  places  that  yielded  more  readily 
to  atmospheric  degradation,  and  where  the 
loose  sands  were  carried  away  by  the  winds. 
Just  before  sundown,  I  attempt  to  climb 
a  rounded  eminence,  from  which  I  hope  to 
obtain  a  good  outlook  on  the  surrounding 
country.  It  is  formed  of  smooth  mounds, 
piled  one  above  another.  Up  these  I  climb, 
winding  here  and  there,  to  find  a  practicable 
way,  until  near  the  summit  they  become  too 
steep  for  me  to  proceed.  I  search  about,  a 
few  minutes,  for  a  more  easy  way,  when  I 
am  surprised  at  finding  a  stairway,  evidently 
cut  in  the  rock  by  hands.  At  one  place, 
where  there  is  a  vertical  wall  of  ten  or  twelve 
feet,  I  find  an  old,  ricketty  ladder.  It  may 
be  that  this  was  a  watch-tower  of  that  ancient 
people  whose  homes  we  have  found  in  ruins. 
On  many  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Colorado 
I  have  heretofore  examined  their  deserted 
dwellings.  Those  that  show  evidences  of 
being  built  during  the  latter  part  of  their 
occupation  of  the  coimtry,  are,  usually, 
placed  on  the  most  inaccessible  cliffs.    Some- 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      173 

times,  the  mouths  of  caves  have  been  walled 
across,  and  there  are  many  other  evidences 
.to  show  their  anxiety  to  secure  defensible 
positions.  Probably  the  nomadic  tribes 
were  sweeping  down  upon  them,  and  they 
resorted  to  these  cliffs  and  canons  for  safety. 
It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  this 
orange  mound  was  used  as  a  watch-tower. 
Here  I  stand,  where  these  now  lost  people 
stood  centuries  ago,  and  look  over  this 
strange  country.  I  gaze  off  to  great  moun- 
tains, in  the  northwest,  which  are  slowly  cov- 
ered by  the  night  until  they  are  lost,  and 
then  I  return  to  camp.  It  is  no  easy  task 
to  find  my  way  down  the  wall  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  I  clamber  about  until  it  is  nearly 
midnight,  before  I  arrive. 

July  30. — ^We  make  good  progress  to- 
day, as  the  water,  though  smooth,  is  swift. 
Sometimes,  the  canon  walls  are  vertical  to 
the  top ;  sometimes,  they  are  vertical  below, 
and  have  a  moimd  covered  slope  above;  in 
other  places,  the  slope,  with  its  mounds, 
comes  down  to  the  water's  edge. 


174j      first  through  GRAND  CANYON 

Still  proceeding  on  our  way,  we  find  the 
orange  sandstone  is  cut  in  two  by  a  group 
of  firm,  calcareous  strata,  and  the  lower  bed 
is  underlaid  by  soft  gypsiferous  shales. 
Sometimes,  the  upper  homogeneous  bed  is 
a  smooth,  vertical  wall,  but  usually  it  is 
carved  with  mounds,  with  gently  meander- 
ing valley  lines.  The  lower  bed,  yielding 
to  gravity,  as  the  softer  shales  below  work 
out  into  the  river,  breaks  into  angular  sur- 
faces, often  having  a  columnar  appearance. 
One  could  almost  imagine  that  the  walls  had 
been  carved  with  a  purpose,  to  represent 
giant  architectural  forms. 

In  the  deep  recesses  of  the  walls,  we  find 
springs,  with  mosses  and  ferns  on  the  mois- 
tened sandstone. 

July  31. — We  have  a  cool,  pleasant  ride 
to-day,  through  this  part  of  the  canon.  The 
walls  are  steadily  increasing  in  altitude,  the 
curves  are  gentle,  and  often  the  river  sweeps 
by  an  arc  of  vertical  wall,  smooth  and  un- 
broken, and  then  by  a  curve  that  is  varie- 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      175 

gated  by  royal  arches,  mossy  alcoves,  deep, 
beautiful  glens,  and  painted  grottos. 

Soon  after  dinner,  we  discover  the  mouth 
of  the  San  Juan,  where  we  camp.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  afternoon  is  given  to  hunting 
some  way  by  which  we  can  climb  out  of  the 
canon;  but  it  ends  in  failure. 

Augtist  1. — We  drop  down  two  miles  this 
morning,  and  go  into  camp  again.  There 
is  a  low,  willow  covered  strip  of  land  along 
the  walls  on  the  east.  Across  this  we  walk, 
to  explore  an  alcove  which  we  see  from  the 
river.  On  entering,  we  find  a  little  grove 
of  box-elder  and  cottonwood  trees;  and, 
turning  to  the  right,  we  find  ourselves  in  a 
vast  chamber,  carved  out  of  the  rock.  At 
the  upper  end  there  is  a  clear,  deep  pool  of 
water,  bordered  with  verdure.  Standing  by 
the  side  of  this,  we  can  see  the  grove  at  the 
entrance.  The  chamber  is  more  than  two 
hundred  feet  high,  five  hundred  feet  long, 
and  two  hundred  feet  wide.  Through  the 
ceiling,  and  on  through  the  rocks  for  a  thou- 


176      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

sand  feet  above,  there  is  a  narrow,  winding 
skylight;  and  this  is  all  carved  out  by  a  little 
stream,  which  only  runs  during  the  few 
showers  that  fall  now  and  then  in  this  arid 
country.  The  waters  from  the  bare  rocks 
back  of  the  canon,  gathering  rapidly  into  a 
small  channel,  have  eroded  a  deep  side 
canon,  through  which  they  run,  until  they 
fall  into  the  farther  end  of  this  chamber. 
The  rock  at  the  ceiling  is  hard,  the  rock  be- 
low, very  soft  and  friable;  and,  having  cut 
through  the  upper  harder  portion  down  into 
the  lower  and  softer,  the  stream  has  washed 
out  these  friable  sandstones;  and  thus  the 
chamber  has  been  excavated. 

Here  we  bring  our  camp.  When  "Old 
Shady"  sings  us  a  song  at  night,  we  are 
pleased  to  find  that  this  hollow  in  the  rock 
is  filled  with  sweet  soimds.  It  was  doubt- 
less made  for  an  academy  of  music  by  its 
storm  born  architects ;  so  we  name  it  Music 
Temple. 

August  2. — We  still  keep  our  camp  in 
Music  Temple  to-day. 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      177 

I  wish  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  adjacent 
country,  if  possible ;  so,  early  in  the  morning, 
the  men  take  me  across  the  river,  and  I  pass 
along  by  the  foot  of  the  cliff  half  a  mile  up 
stream,  and  then  climb  first  up  broken  ledges, 
then  two  or  three  hundred  yards  up  a  smooth, 
sloping  rock,  and  then  pass  out  on  a  narrow 
ridge.  Still,  I  find  I  have  not  attained  an 
altitude  from  which  I  can  overlook  the  re- 
gion outside  of  the  canon;  and  so  I  descend 
into  a  httle  gulch,  and  climb  again  to  a 
higher  ridge,  all  the  way  along  naked  sand- 
stone, and  at  last  I  reach  a  point  of  com- 
manding view.  I  can  look  several  miles  up 
the  San  Juan,  and  a  long  distance  up  the 
Colorado;  and  away  to  the  northwest  I  can 
see  the  Henry  Mountains ;  to  the  northeast, 
the  Sierra  La  Sal ;  to  the  southeast,  unknown 
mountains;  and  to  the  southwest,  the  mean- 
dering of  the  canon.  Then  I  return  to  the 
bank  of  the  river. 

We  sleep  again  in  Music  Temple. 

August  3. — Start  early  this  morning. 
The  features  of  this  canon  are  greatly  di- 


178   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

versified.  Still  vertical  walls  at  times. 
These  are  usually  found  to  stand  above  great 
curves.  The  river,  sweeping  around  these 
bends,  undermines  the  chffs  in  places. 
Sometimes,  the  rocks  are  overhanging;  in 
other  curves,  curious,  narrow  glens  are 
found.  Through  these  we  climb,  by  a  rough 
stairway,  perhaps  several  hundred  feet,  to 
where  a  spring  bursts  out  from  under  an 
overhanging  cliff,  and  where  cottonwoods 
and  willows  stand,  while,  along  the  curves  of 
the  brooklet,  oaks  grow,  and  other  rich  vege- 
tation is  seen,  in  marked  contrast  to  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  naked  rock.  We  call 
these  Oak  Glens. 

Other  wonderful  features  are  the  many  side 
canons  or  gorges  that  we  pass.  Sometimes, 
we  stop  to  explore  these  for  a  short  distance. 
In  some  places,  their  walls  are  much  nearer 
each  other  above  than  below,  so  that  they 
look  somewhat  like  caves  or  chambers  in  the 
rocks.  Usually,  in  going  up  such  a  gorge, 
we  find  beautiful  vegetation ;  but  our  way  is 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      179 

often  cut  off  by  deep  basins,  or  pot-holes,  as 
they  are  called. 

On  the  walls,  and  back  many  miles  into 
the  country,  numbers  of  monument  shaped 
buttes  are  observed.  So  we  have  a  curious 
ensemble  of  wonderful  features — carved 
walls,  royal  arches,  glens,  alcove  gulches, 
mounds,  and  monuments.  From  which  of 
these  features  shall  we  select  a  name?  We 
decide  to  call  it  Glen  Canon. 

Past  these  towering  monuments,  past 
these  mounded  billows  of  orange  sandstone, 
past  these  oak  set  glens,  past  these  fern 
decked  alcoves,  past  these  mural  curves,  we 
glide  hour  after  hour,  stopping  now  and 
then,  as  our  attention  is  arrested  by  some 
new  wonder,  until  we  reach  a  point  which  is 
historic. 

In  the  year  1776,  Father  Escalante,  a 
Spanish  priest,  made  an  expedition  from 
Santa  Fe  to  the  northwest,  crossing  the 
Grand  and  Green,  and  then  passing  down 
along  the  Wasatch  Mountains  and  the  south- 


180      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ern  plateaus,  until  he  reached  the  Rio  Vir- 
gen.  His  intention  was  to  cross  to  the  Mis- 
sion of  Monterey;  but,  from  information  re- 
ceived from  the  Indians,  he  decided  that  the 
route  was  impracticable.  Not  wishing  to 
return  to  Santa  Fe  over  the  circuitous  route 
by  which  he  had  just  traveled,  he  attempted 
to  go  by  one  more  direct,  and  which  led  him 
across  the  Colorado,  at  a  point  known  as 
El  vado  de  los  Padres,  From  the  descrip- 
tion which  we  have  read,  we  are  enabled  to 
determine  the  place.  A  little  stream  comes 
down  through  a  very  narrow  side  canon  from 
the  west.  It  was  down  this  that  he  came, 
and  our  boats  are  lying  at  the  point  where 
the  ford  crosses.  A  well  beaten  Indian  trail 
is  seen  here  yet.  Between  the  cliff  and  the 
river  there  is  a  little  meadow.  The  ashes 
of  many  camp  fires  are  seen,  and  the  bones 
of  numbers  of  cattle  are  bleaching  on  the 
grass.  For  several  years  the  Navajos  have 
raided  on  the  Mormons  that  dwell  in  the  val- 
leys to  the  west,  and  they  doubtless  cross 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      181 

frequently  at  this  ford  with  their  stolen  cat- 
tle. 

August  4. — To-day  the  walls  grow  higher, 
and  the  canon  much  narrower.  Monuments 
are  still  seen  on  either  side ;  beautiful  glens, 
and  alcoves,  and  gorges,  and  side  canons  are 
yet  found.  After  dinner,  we  find  the  river 
making  a  sudden  turn  to  the  northwest,  and 
the  whole  character  of  the  canon  changed. 
The  walls  are  many  hundreds  of  feet  higher, 
and  the  rocks  are  chiefly  variegated  shales 
of  beautiful  colors — creamy  orange  above, 
then  bright  vermilion,  and  below,  purple  and 
chocolate  beds,  with  green  and  yellow  sands. 
We  run  four  miles  through  this,  in  a  direc- 
tion a  little  to  the  west  of  north;  wheel  again 
to  the  west,  and  pass  into  a  portion  of  the 
canon  where  the  characteristics  are  more  like 
those  above  the  bend.  At  night  we  stop  at 
the  mouth  of  a  creek  coming  in  from  the 
right,  and  suppose  it  to  be  the  Paria,  which 
was  described  to  me  last  year  by  a  Mormon 
missionary. 


182      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Here  the  canon  terminates  abruptly  in  a 
line  of  eliif s,  which  stretches  from  either  side 
across  the  river. 

Augiist  5. — With  some  feeling  of  anxiety, 
we  enter  a  new  canon  this  morning.  yVe 
have  learned  to  closely  observe  the  texture 
of  the  rock.  In  softer  strata,  we  have  a 
quiet  river;  in  harder,  we  find  rapids  and 
falls.  Below  us  are  the  limestones  and  hard 
sandstones,  which  we  found  in  Cataract 
Canon.  This  bodes  toil  and  danger.  Be- 
sides the  texture  of  the  rocks,  there  is  an- 
other condition  which  affects  the  character 
of  the  channel,  as  we  have  found  by  experi- 
ence. Where  the  strata  are  horizontal,  the 
river  is  often  quiet;  but,  even  though  it  may 
be  very  swift  in  places,  no  great  obstacles  are 
found.  Where  the  rocks  incline  in  the  di- 
rection traveled,  the  river  usually  sweeps 
with  great  velocity,  but  still  we  have  few  rap- 
ids and  falls.  But  where  the  rocks  dip  up 
stream,  and  the  river  cuts  obliquely  across 
the  upturned  formations,  harder  strata 
above,  and  softer  below,  we  have  rapids  and 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      183 

falls.  Into  hard  rocks,  and  into  rocks  dip- 
ping up  stream,  we  pass  this  morning,  and 
start  on  a  long,  rocky,  mad  rapid.  On  the 
left  there  is  a  vertical  rock,  and  down  by  this 
chff  and  around  to  the  left  we  glide,  just 
tossed  enough  by  the  waves  to  appreciate 
the  rate  at  which  we  are  traveling. 

The  canon  is  narrow,  with  vertical  walls, 
which  gradually  grow  higher.  More  rap- 
ids and  falls  are  found.  We  come  to  one 
with  a  drop  of  sixteen  feet,  around  which 
we  make  a  portage,  and  then  stop  for  din- 
ner. 

Then  a  run  of  two  miles,  and  another  por- 
tage, long  and  difficult ;  then  we  camp  for  the 
night,  on  a  bank  of  sand. 

August  6. — Canon  walls,  still  higher  and 
higher,  as  we  go  down  through  strata.  There 
is  a  steep  talus  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  and, 
in  some  places,  the  upper  parts  of  the  walls 
are  terraced. 

About  ten  o'clock  we  come  to  a  place 
where  the  river  occupies  the  entire  channel, 
and  the  walls  are  vertical  from  the  water's 


184  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

edge.  We  see  a  fall  below,  and  row  up 
against  the  cliff.  There  is  a  little  shelf,  or 
rather  a  horizontal  crevice,  a  few  feet  over 
our  heads.  One  man  stands  on  the  deck  of 
the  boat,  another  climbs  on  his  shoulders,  and 
then  into  the  crevice.  Then  we  pass  him 
a  line,  and  two  or  three  others,  with  myself, 
follow;  then  we  pass  along  the  crevice  until 
it  becomes  a  shelf,  as  the  upper  part,  or  roof, 
is  broken  off.  On  this  we  walk  for  a  short 
distance,  slowly  climbing  all  the  way,  until 
we  reach  a  point  where  the  shelf  is  broken 
off,  and  we  can  pass  no  farther.  Then  we 
go  back  to  the  boat,  cross  the  stream,  and 
get  some  logs  that  have  lodged  in  the  rocks, 
bring  them  to  our  side,  pass  them  along  the 
crevice  and  shelf,  and  bridge  over  the  broken 
place.  Then  we  go  on  to  a  point  over  the 
falls,  but  do  not  obtain  a  satisfactory  view. 
Then  we  climb  out  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  and 
walk  along  to  find  a  point  below  the  fall, 
from  which  it  can  be  seen.  From  this  point 
it  seems  possible  to  let  down  our  boats,  with 
lines,  to  the  head  of  the  rapids,  and  then 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      185 

make  a  portage ;  so  we  return,  row  down  by 
the  side  of  the  cliff,  as  far  as  we  dare,  and 
fasten  one  of  the  boats  to  a  rock.  Then  we 
let  down  another  boat  to  the  end  of  its  line 
beyond  the  first,  and  the  third  boat  to  the 
end  of  its  line  below  the  second,  which  brings 
it  to  the  head  of  the  fall,  and  under  an  over- 
hanging rock.  Then  the  upper  boat,  in 
obedience  to  a  signal,  lets  go ;  we  pull  in  the 
line,  and  catch  the  nearest  boat  as  it  comes, 
and  then  the  last.  Then  we  make  a  portage, 
and  go  on. 

We  go  into  camp  early  this  afternoon,  at 
a  place  where  it  seems  possible  to  climb  out, 
and  the  evening  is  spent  in  "making  observa- 
tions for  time." 

'August  7. — The  almanac  tells  us  that  we 
are  to  have  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  to-day,  so 
Captain  Powell  and  myself  start  early,  tak- 
ing our  instruments  with  us,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  observations  on  the  eclipse,  to 
determine  our  longitude.  Arriving  at  the 
summit,  after  four  hours'  hard  climbing,  to 
attain  2,300  feet  in  height,  we  hurriedly  build 


186      FraST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

a  platform  of  rock's,  on  whict  to  place  our 
instruments,  and  quietly  wait  for  the  eclipse; 
but  clouds  come  on,  and  rain  falls,  and  sun 
and  moon  are  obscured. 

Much  disappointed,  we  start  on  our  return 
to  camp,  but  it  is  late,  and  the  clouds  make 
the  night  very  dark.  Still  we  feel  our  way 
down  among  the  rocks  with  great  care,  for 
two  or  three  hours,  though  making  slow 
progress  indeed.  At  last  we  lose  our  way, 
and  dare  proceed  no  farther.  The  rain 
comes  down  in  torrents,  and  we  can  find  no 
shelter.  We  can  neither  climb  up  nor  go 
down,  and  in  the  darkness  dare  not  move 
about,  but  sit  and  "weather  out"  the  night. 

August  8. — ^Daylight  comes,  after  a  long, 
oh!  how  long  a  night,  and  we  soon  reach 
camp. 

After  breakfast  we  start  again,  and  make 
two  portages  during  the  forenoon. 

The  limestone  of  this  canon  is  often  pol- 
ished, and  makes  a  beautiful  marble.  Some- 
times the  rocks  are  of  many  colors — white, 
gray,  pink,  and  purple,  with  saffron  tints. 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      187 

It  is  with  very  great  labor  that  we  make 
progress,  meeting  with  many  obstructions, 
running  rapids,  letting  down  our  boats  with 
lines,  from  rock  to  rock,  and  sometimes  car- 
rying boats  and  cargoes  around  bad  places. 
We  camp  at  night,  just  after  a  hard  portage, 
under  an  overhanging  wall,  glad  to  find  shel- 
ter from  the  rain.  We  have  to  search  for 
some  time  to  find  a  few  sticks  of  driftwood, 
just  sufficient  to  boil  a  cup  of  coffee. 

The  water  sweeps  rapidly  in  this  elbow  of 
river,  and  has  cut  its  way  under  the  rock, 
excavating  a  vast  half  circular  chamber, 
which,  if  utilized  for  a  theater,  would  give 
sitting  to  fifty  thousand  people.  Objections 
might  be  raised  against  it,  from  the  fact  that, 
at  high  water,  the  floor  is  covered  with  a  rag- 
ing flood. 

August  9. — ^And  now,  the  scenery  is  on  a 
grand  scale.  The  walls  of  the  canon,  2,500 
feet  high,  are  of  marble,  of  many  beautiful 
colors,  and  often  polished  below  by  the 
waves,  or  far  up  the  sides,  where  showers 
have  washed  the  sands  over  the  cliffs. 


188      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

At  one  place  I  have  a  walk,  for  more  than 
a  mile,  on  a  marble  pavement,  all  polished 
and  fretted  with  strange  devices,  and  em- 
bossed in  a  thousand  fantastic  patterns. 
Through  a  cleft  in  the  wall  the  sun  shines  on 
this  pavement,  which  gleams  in  iridescent 
beauty. 

I  pass  up  into  the  cleft.  It  is  very  nar- 
row, with  a  succession  of  pools  standing  at 
higher  levels  as  I  go  back.  The  water  in 
these  pools  is  clear  and  cool,  coming  down 
from  springs.  Then  I  return  to  the  pave- 
ment, which  is  but  a  terrace  or  bench,  over 
which  the  river  runs  at  its  flood,  but  left  bare 
at  present.  Along  the  pavement,  in  many 
places,  are  basins  of  clear  water,  in  strange 
contrast  to  the  red  mud  of  the  river.  At 
length  I  come  to  the  end  of  this  marble  ter- 
race, and  take  again  to  the  boat. 

Riding  down  a  short  distance,  a  beautiful 
view  is  presented.  The  river  turns  sharply 
to  the  east,  and  seems  inclosed  by  a  wall,  set 
with  a  million  brilliant  gems.     What  can  it 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      189 

mean?  Every  eye  is  engaged,  every  one 
wonders.  On  coming  nearer,  we  find  foun- 
tains bm'sting  from  the  rock,  high  overhead, 
and  the  spray  in  the  sunshine  forms  the 
gems  which  bedeck  the  wall.  The  rocks  be- 
low the  fountain  are  covered  with  mosses, 
and  ferns,  and  many  beautiful  flowering 
plants.  We  name  it  Vasey's  Paradise,  in 
honor  of  the  botanist  who  traveled  with  us 
last  year. 

We  pass  many  side  canons  to-day,  that 
are  dark,  gloomy  passages,  back  into  the 
heart  of  the  rocks  that  form  the  plateau 
through  which  this  canon  is  cut. 

It  rains  again  this  afternoon.  Scarcely 
do  the  first  drops  fall,  when  little  rills  run 
down  the  walls.  As  the  storm  comes  on, 
the  little  rills  increase  in  size,  until  great 
streams  are  formed.  Although  the  walls  of 
the  canon  are  chiefly  limestone,  the  adjacent 
country  is  of  red  sandstone ;  and  now  the  wa- 
ters, loaded  with  these  sands,  come  down  in 
rivers  of  bright  red  mud,  leaping  over  the 


190      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

walls  in  innumerable  cascades.  It  is  plain 
now  how  these  walls  are  polished  in  many 
places. 

At  last,  the  storm  ceases,  and  we  go  on. 
We  have  cut  through  the  sandstones  and 
limestones  met  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
canon,  and  through  one  great  bed  of  marble 
a  thousand  feet  in  thickness.  In  this,  great 
numbers  of  caves  are  hollowed  out,  and  carv- 
ings are  seen,  which  suggest  architectural 
forms,  though  on  a  scale  so  grand  that  archi- 
tectural terms  belittle  them.  As  this  great 
bed  forms  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  canon, 
we  call  it  Marble  Canon. 

It  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  these  walls,  that 
many  projections  are  set  out  into  the  river, 
as  if  the  wall  was  buttressed  for  support. 
The  walls  themselves  are  half  a  mile  high, 
and  these  buttresses  are  on  a  corresponding 
scale,  jutting  into  the  river  scores  of  feet. 
In  the  recesses  between  these  projections 
there  are  quiet  bays,  except  at  the  foot  of  a 
rapid,  when  they  are  dancing  eddies  or  whirl- 
pools.    Sometimes  these  alcoves  have  caves 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      191 

at  the  back,  giving  them  the  appearance  of 
great  depth.  Then  other  caves  are  seen 
above,  forming  vast,  dome  shaped  chambers. 
The  walls,  and  buttresses,  and  chambers  are 
all  of  marble. 

The  river  is  now  quiet;  the  canon  wider. 
Above,  when  the  river  is  at  its  flood,  the  wa- 
ters gorge  up,  so  that  the  difference  between 
high  and  low  water  mark  is  often  fifty  or 
even  seventy  feet ;  but  here,  high-water  mark 
is  not  more  than  twenty  feet  above  the  pres- 
ent stage  of  the  river.  Sometimes  there  is 
a  narrow  flood  plain  between  the  water  and 
the  wall. 

Here  we  first  discover  mesquite  shrubs, 
or  small  trees,  with  finely  divided  leaves  and 
pods,  somewhat  like  the  locust. 

August  10. — ^Walls  still  higher;  water, 
swift  again.  We  pass  several  broad,  ragged 
canons  on  our  right,  and  up  through  these  we 
catch  glimpses  of  a  forest  clad  plateau,  miles 
away  to  the  west. 

At  two  o'clock,  we  reach  the  mouth  of  the 
Colorado    Chiquito.    This    stream    enters 


192      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

through  a  canon,  on  a  scale  quite  as  grand 
as  that  of  the  Colorado  itself.  It  is  a  very 
small  river,  and  exceedingly  muddy  and  salt. 
I  walk  up  the  stream  three  or  four  miles, 
this  afternoon,  crossing  and  recrossing  vrhere 
I  can  easily  wade  it.  Then  I  climb  several 
hundred  feet  at  one  place,  and  can  see  up  the 
chasm,  through  which  the  river  runs,  for  sev- 
eral miles.  On  my  way  back,  I  kill  two  rat- 
tlesnakes, and  find,  on  my  arrival,  that  an- 
other has  been  killed  just  at  camp. 

August  11. — We  remain  at  this  point  to- 
day for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  lati- 
tude and  longitude,  measuring  the  height  of 
the  walls,  drying  our  rations,  and  repairing 
our  boats. 

Captain  Powell,  early  in  the  morning, 
takes  a  barometer,  and  goes  out  to  climb  a 
point  between  the  two  rivers. 

I  walk  down  the  gorge  to  the  left  at  the 
foot  of  the  cliif,  climb  to  a  bench,  and  dis- 
cover a  trail,  deeply  worn  in  the  rock. 
Where  it  crosses  the  side  gulches,  in  some 
places,  steps  have  been  cut.     I  can  see  no 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      193 

evidence  of  its  having  been  traveled  for  a 
long  time.  It  was  doubtless  a  path  used  by 
the  people  who  inhabited  this  country  an- 
terior to  the  present  Indian  races — the  peo- 
ple who  built  the  communal  houses,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made. 

I  return  to  camp  about  three  o'clock,  and 
find  that  some  of  the  men  have  discovered 
ruins,  and  many  fragments  of  pottery ;  also, 
etchings  and  hieroglyphics  on  the  rocks. 

We  find,  to-night,  on  comparing  the  read- 
ings of  the  barometers,  that  the  walls  are 
about  three  thousand  feet  high — more  than 
half  a  mile — an  altitude  difficult  to  appre- 
ciate from  a  mere  statement  of  feet.  The 
ascent  is  made,  not  by  a  slope  such  as  is  usu- 
ally found  in  climbing  a  mountain,  but  is 
much  more  abrupt — often  vertical  for  many 
hundreds  of  feet — so  that  the  impression  is 
that  we  are  at  great  depths;  and  we  look  up 
to  see  but  a  little  patch  of  sky. 

Between  the  two  streams,  above  the  Colo- 
rado Chiquito,  in  some  places  the  rocks  are 
broken  and  shelving  for  six  or  seven  hundred 


194  FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

feet;  then  there  is  a  sloping  terrace,  which 
can  only  be  climbed  by  finding  some  way  up 
a  gulch;  then,  another  terrace,  and  back,  still 
another  cliff.  The  summit  of  the  cliff  is 
three  thousand  feet  above  the  river,  as  our 
barometers  attest. 

Our  camp  is  below  the  Colorado  Chiquito, 
and  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  canon. 

'August  12. — The  rocks  above  camp  are 
rust  colored  sandstones  and  conglomerates. 
Some  are  very  hard;  others  quite  soft. 
These  all  lie  nearly  horizontal,  and  the  beds 
of  softer  material  have  been  washed  out,  and 
left  the  harder,  thus  forming  a  series  of 
shelves.  Long  lines  of  these  are  seen,  of 
varying  thickness,  from  one  or  two  to  twenty 
or  thirty  feet,  and  the  spaces  between  have 
the  same  variability.  This  morning,  I  spend 
two  or  three  hours  in  climbing  among  these 
shelves,  and  then  I  pass  above  them,  and  go 
up  a  long  slope,  to  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  and 
try  to  discover  some  way  by  which  I  can 
reach  the  top  of  the  wall;  but  I  find  my 
progress  cut  off  by  an  amphitheater.     Then, 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      195 

I  wander  away  around  to  the  left,  up  a  little 
gulch,  and  along  benches,  and  climb,  from 
time  to  time,  until  I  reach  an  altitude  of 
nearly  two  thousand  feet,  and  can  get  no 
higher.  From  this  point,  I  can  look  off  to 
the  west,  up  side  canons  of  the  Colorado, 
and  see  the  edge  of  a  great  plateau,  from 
which  streams  run  down  into  the  Colorado, 
and  deep  gulches,  in  the  escarpment  which 
faces  us,  continued  by  canons,  ragged  and 
flaring,  and  set  with  cliffs  and  towering 
crags,  down  to  the  river.  I  can  see  far  up 
Marble  Canon,  to  long  lines  of  chocolate  col* 
ored  cliffs,  and  above  these,  the  Vermilion 
Cliffs.  I  can  see,  also,  up  the  Colorado  Chi- 
quito,  through  a  very  ragged  and  broken 
canon,  with  sharp  salients  set  out  from  the 
walls  on  either  side,  their  points  overlap- 
ping, so  that  a  huge  tooth  of  marble,  on  one 
side,  seems  to  be  set  between  two  teeth  on 
the  opposite;  and  I  can  also  get  glimpses  of 
walls,  standing  away  back  from  the  river, 
while  over  my  head  are  mural  escarpments, 
not  possible  to  be  scaled. 


196   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Cataract  Canon  is  forty-one  miles  long. 
The  walls  are  1,300  feet  high  at  its  head, 
and  they  gradually  increase  in  altitude  to  a 
point  about  half-way  down,  where  they  are 
2,700  feet,  and  then  decrease  to  1,300  feet  at 
the  foot.  Narrow  Canon  is  nine  and  a  half 
miles  long,  with  walls  1,300  feet  in  height  at 
the  head,  and  coming  down  to  the  water  at 
the  foot. 

There  is  very  little  vegetation  in  this 
canon,  or  in  the  adjacent  country.  Just  at 
the  junction  of  the  Grand  and  Green,  there 
are  a  number  of  hackberry  trees ;  and  along 
the  entire  length  of  Cataract  Canon,  the 
high-water  line  is  marked  by  scattered  trees 
of  the  same  species.  A  few  nut-pines  and 
cedars  are  found,  and  occasionally  a  red-bud 
or  judas  tree;  but  the  general  aspect  of  the 
canons,  and  of  the  adjacent  country,  is  that 
of  naked  rock. 

The  distance  through  Glen  Canon  is  149 
miles.  Its  walls  vary  from  two  or  three  hun- 
dred   to    sixteen    hundred    feet.    Marble 


GRAND  TO  LITTLE  COLORADO      197 

Canon  is  65y2  miles  long.  At  its  head,  it  is 
200  feet  deep,  and  steadily  increases  in  depth 
to  its  foot,  where  its  walls  are  3,500  feet 
high. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  GRAND  CANYON   OF  THE   COLOEADO 

AUGUST  13.— We  are  now  ready 
to  start  on  our  way  down  the 
Great  Unknown.  Our  boats,  tied 
to  a  common  stake,  are  chafing  each  other, 
as  they  are  tossed  by  the  fretful  river. 
They  ride  high  and  buoyant,  for  their  loads 
are  lighter  than  we  could  desire.  We  have 
but  a  month's  rations  remaining.  The  flour 
has  been  resifted  through  the  mosquito  net 
sieve;  the  spoiled  bacon  has  been  dried,  and 
the  worst  of  it  boiled;  the  few  pounds  of 
dried  apples  have  been  spread  in  the  sun,  and 
reshrunken  to  their  normal  bulk;  the  sugar 
has  all  melted,  and  gone  on  its  way  down  the 
river;  but  we  have  a  large  sack  of  coffee. 
The  Ughting  of  the  boats  has  this  advantage : 
they  will  ride  the  waves  better,  and  we  shall 

198 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    199 

have  but  little  to  earrjr  when  we  make  a  por- 
tage. 

We  are  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  the 
depths  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  river 
shrinks  into  insignificance,  as  it  dashes  its 
angry  waves  against  the  walls  and  cliffs,  that 
rise  to  the  world  above;  they  are  but  puny 
ripples,  and  we  but  pigmies,  running  up  and 
down  the  sands,  or  lost  among  the  boulders. 

We  have  an  imknown  distance  yet  to  run; 
an  unknown  river  yet  to  explore.  What 
falls  there  are,  we  know  not ;  what  rocks  be- 
set the  channel,  we  know  not;  what  walls  rise 
over  the  river,  we  know  not.  Ah,  well!  we 
may  conjecture  many  things.  The  men  talk 
as  cheerfully  as  ever;  jests  are  bandied  about 
freely  this  morning;  but  to  me  the  cheer  is 
somber  and  the  jests  are  ghastly. 

With  some  eagerness,  and  some  anxiety, 
and  some  misgiving,  we  enter  the  canon  be- 
low, and  are  carried  along  by  the  swift  water 
through  walls  which  rise  from  its  very  edge. 
They  have  the  same  structure  as  we  noticed 
yesterday — tiers  of  irregular  shelves  below. 


J200      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

and,  above  these,  steep  slopes  to  the  foot  of 
marble  cliffs.  We  run  six  miles  in  a  little 
more  than  half  an  hour,  and  emerge  into  a 
more  open  portion  of  the  canon,  where  high 
hills  and  ledges  of  rock  intervene  between 
the  river  and  the  distant  walls.  Just  at  the 
head  of  this  open  place  the  river  runs  across 
a  dike;  that  is,  a  fissure  in  the  rocks,  open  to 
depths  below,  has  been  filled  with  eruptive 
matter,  and  this,  on  cooling,  was  harder  than 
the  rocks  through  which  the  crevice  was 
made,  and,  when  these  were  washed  away, 
the  harder  volcanic  matter  remained  as  a 
wall,  and  the  river  has  cut  a  gate-way 
through  it  several  hundred  feet  high,  and  as 
many  wide.  As  it  crosses  the  wall,  there  is 
a  fall  below,  and  a  bad  rapid,  filled  with 
boulders  of  trap ;  so  we  stop  to  make  a  por- 
tage. Then  on  we  go,  gliding  by  hills  and 
ledges,  with  distant  walls  in  view;  sweeping 
past  sharp  angles  of  rock ;  stopping  at  a  few 
points  to  examine  rapids,  which  we  find  can 
be  run,  until  we  have  made  another  five  miles, 
when  we  land  for  dinner. 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO  ^01 

Then  we  let  down  with  lines,  over  a  long 
rapid,  and  start  again.  Once  more  the  walls 
close  in,  and  we  find  ourselves  in  a  narrow 
gorge,  the  water  again  fiUing  the  channel, 
and  very  swift.  With  great  care,  and  con- 
stant watchfulness,  we  proceed,  making 
about  four  miles  this  afternoon,  and  camp  in 
a  cave. 

August  14. — At  daybreak  we  walk  down 
the  bank  of  the  river,  on  a  little  sandy  beach, 
to  take  a  view  of  a  new  feature  in  the  canon. 
Heretofore,  hard  rocks  have  given  us  bad 
river ;  soft  rocks,  smooth  water ;  and  a  series 
of  rocks  harder  than  any  we  have  experi- 
enced sets  in.  The  river  enters  the  gran- 
ite!* 

We  can  see  but  a  little  way  into  the  gran- 
ite gorge,  but  it  looks  threatening. 

After  breakfast  we  enter  on  the  waves. 
At  the  very  introduction,  it  inspires  awe. 
The  canon  is  narrower  than  we  have  ever 
before  seen  it ;  the  water  is  swifter ;  there  are 

*  Geologists  would  call  these  rocks  metamorphic  crystal- 
line schists,  with  dikes  and  beds  of  granite,  but  we  will  use 
the  popular  name  for  the  whole  series — ^granite. 


^2      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON. 

but  few  broken  rocks  in  the  channel;  but  the 
walls  are  set,  on  either  side,  with  pinnacles 
and  crags;  and  sharp,  angular  buttresses, 
bristling  with  wind  and  wave  polished  spires, 
extend  far  out  into  the  river. 

Ledges  of  rocks  jut  into  the  stream,  their 
tops  sometimes  just  below  the  surface,  some- 
times rising  few  or  many  feet  above;  and 
island  ledges,  and  island  pinnacles,  and 
island  towers  break  the  swift  course  of  the 
stream  into  chutes,  and  eddies,  and  whirl- 
pools. We  soon  reach  a  place  where  a  creek 
comes  in  from  the  left,  and  just  below,  the 
channel  is  choked  with  boulders,  which  have 
washed  down  this  lateral  canon  and  formed 
a  dam,  over  which  there  is  a  fall  of  thirty  or 
forty  feet;  but  on  the  boulders  we  can  get 
foothold,  and  we  make  a  portage. 

Three  more  such  dams  are  found.  Over 
one  we  make  a  portage ;  at  the  other  two  we 
find  chutes,  through  which  we  can  run. 

As  we  proceed,  the  granite  rises  higher, 
until  nearly  a  thousand  feet  of  the  lower  part 
of  the  walls  are  composed  of  this  rock. 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    S03 

About  eleven  o'clock  we  hear  a  great  roar 
ahead,  and  approach  it  very  cautiously. 
The  sound  grows  louder  and  louder  as  we 
run,  and  at  last  we  find  ourselves  above  a 
long,  broken  fall,  with  ledges  and  pinnacles 
of  rock  obstructing  the  river.  There  is  a 
descent  of,  perhaps,  seventy-five  or  eighty 
feet  in  a  third  of  a  mile,  and  the  rushing 
waters  break  into  great  waves  on  the 
rocks,  and  lash  themselves  into  a  mad, 
white  foam.  We  can  land  just  above,  but 
there  is  no  foot-hold  on  either  side  by 
which  we  can  make  a  portage.  It  is  nearly 
a  thousand  feet  to  the  top  of  the  granite,  so 
it  will  be  impossible  to  carry  our  boats 
around,  though  we  can  climb  to  the  summit 
up  a  side  gulch,  and,  passing  along  a  mile  or 
two,  can  descend  to  the  river.  This  we  find 
on  examination;  but  such  a  portage  would 
be  impracticable  for  us,  and  we  must  run  the 
rapid,  or  abandon  the  river.  There  is  no 
hesitation.  We  step  into  our  boats,  push  off 
and  away  we  go,  first  on  smooth  but  swift 
water,  then  we  strike  a  glassy  wave,  and  ride 


204f      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

to  its  top,  down  again  into  the  trough,  up 
again  on  a  higher  wave,  and  down  and  up 
on  waves  higher  and  still  higher,  until  we 
strike  one  just  as  it  curls  back,  and  a  breaker 
rolls  over  our  little  boat.  Still,  on  we  speed, 
shooting  past  projecting  rocks,  till  the  httle 
boat  is  caught  in  a  whirlpool,  and  spun 
around  several  times.  At  last  we  pull  out 
again  into  the  stream,  and  now  the  other 
boats  have  passed  us.  The  open  compart- 
ment of  the  Emma  Dean  is  filled  with  water, 
and  every  breaker  rolls  over  us.  Hurled 
back  from  a  rock,  now  on  this  side,  now  on 
that,  we  are  carried  into  an  eddy,  in  which  we 
struggle  for  a  few  minutes,  and  are  then  out 
again,  the  breakers  still  rolling  over  us.  Our 
boat  is  unmanageable,  but  she  cannot  sink, 
and  we  drift  down  another  hundred  yards, 
through  breakers;  how,  we  scarcely  know. 
We  find  the  other  boats  have  turned  into  an 
eddy  at  the  foot  of  the  fall,  and  are  waiting 
to  catch  us  as  we  come,  for  the  men  have  seen 
that  our  boat  is  swamped.  They  push  out 
as  we  come  near,  and  pull  us  in  against  the 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    205 

wall.     We  bail  our  boat,  and  on  we  go  again. 

The  walls,  now,  are  more  than  a  mile  in 
height — a  vertical  distance  difficult  to  appre- 
ciate. Stand  on  the  south  steps  of  the 
Treasury  building  in  Washington,  and  look 
down  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  the  Capitol 
Park,  and  measure  this  distance  overhead, 
and  imagine  cliffs  to  extend  to  that  altitude^ 
and  you  will  understand  what  I  mean;  or, 
stand  at  Canal  Street,  in  New  York,  and 
look  up  Broadway  to  Grace  Church,  and  you 
have  about  the  distance;  or,  stand  at  Lake 
Street  bridge,  in  Chicago,  and  look  down 
to  the  Central  Depot,  and  you  have  it  again. 

A  thousand  feet  of  this  is  up  through  gran- 
ite crags,  then  steep  slopes  and  perpendicu- 
lar cliffs  rise,  one  above  another,  to  the  sum- 
mit. The  gorge  is  black  and  narrow  below, 
red  and  gray  and  flaring  above,  with  crags 
and  angular  projections  on  the  walls,  which, 
cut  in  many  places  by  side  canons,  seem  to 
be  a  vast  wilderness  of  rocks.  Down  in 
these  grand,  gloomy  depths  we  glide,  ever 
listening,  for  the  mad  waters  keep  up  their 


206      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

roar ;  ever  watching,  ever  peering  ahead,  for 
the  narrow  canon  is  winding,  and  the  river  is 
closed  in  so  that  we  can  see  but  a  few  hun- 
dred yards,  and  what  there  may  be  below  we 
know  not;  but  we  hsten  for  falls,  and  watch 
for  rocks,  or  stop  now  and  then,  in  the  bay 
of  a  recess,  to  admire  the  gigantic  scenery. 
And  ever,  as  we  go,  there  is  some  new  pin- 
nacle or  tower,  some  crag  or  peak,  some  dis- 
tant view  of  the  upper  plateau,  some  strange 
shaped  rock,  or  some  deep,  narrow  side 
canon.  Then  we  come  to  another  broken 
fall,  which  appears  more  difficult  than  the 
one  we  ran  this  morning. 

A  small  creek  comes  in  on  the  right,  and 
the  first  fall  of  the  water  is  over  boulders, 
which  have  been  carried  down  by  this  lateral 
stream.  We  land  at  its  mouth,  and  stop  for 
an  hour  or  two  to  examine  the  fall.  It  seems 
possible  to  let  down  with  lines,  at  least  a 
part  of  the  way,  from  point  to  point,  along 
the  right  hand  wall.  So  we  make  a  portage 
over  the  first  rocks,  and  find  footing  on  some 
boulders  below.     Then  we  let  down  one  of 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    207 

the  boats  to  the  end  of  her  line,  when  she 
reaches  a  corner  of  the  projecting  rock,  to 
which  one  of  the  men  clings,  and  steadies 
her,  while  I  examine  an  eddy  below.  I  think 
we  can  pass  the  other  boats  down  by  us,  and 
catch  them  in  the  eddy.  This  is  soon  done 
and  the  men  in  the  boats  in  the  eddy  pull  us 
to  their  side.  On  the  shore  of  this  little  eddy 
there  is  about  two  feet  of  gravel  beach  above 
the  water.  Standing  on  this  beach,  some  of 
the  men  take  the  line  of  the  little  boat  and 
let  it  drift  down  against  another  projecting 
angle.  Here  is  a  little  shelf,  on  which  a  man 
from  my  boat  climbs,  and  a  shorter  line  is 
passed  to  him,  and  he  fastens  the  boat  to  the 
side  of  the  cliff.  Then  the  second  one  is  let 
down,  bringing  the  line  of  the  third.  When 
the  second  boat  is  tied  up,  the  two  men  stand- 
ing on  the  beach  above  spring  into  the  last 
boat,  which  is  pulled  up  alongside  of  ours. 
Then  we  let  down  the  boats,  for  twenty-five 
or  thirty  yards,  by  walking  along  the  shelf, 
landing  them  again  in  the  mouth  of  a  side 
canon.    Just  below  this  there  is  another  pile 


208      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

of  boulders,  over  which  we  make  another 
portage.  From  the  foot  of  these  rocks  we 
can  climb  to  another  shelf,  forty  or  fifty  feet 
above  the  water. 

On  this  beach  we  camp  for  the  night.  We 
find  a  few  sticks,  which  have  lodged  in  the 
rocks.  It  is  raining  hard,  and  we  have  no 
shelter,  but  kindle  a  fire  and  have  our  sup- 
per. We  sit  on  the  rocks  all  night,  wrapped 
in  our  ponchos,  getting  what  sleep  we  can. 

August  15. — This  morning  we  find  we  can 
let  down  for  three  or  four  hundred  yards, 
and  it  is  managed  in  this  way:  We  pass 
along  the  wall,  by  climbing  from  projecting 
point  to  point,  sometimes  near  the  water's 
edge,  at  other  places  fifty  or  sixty  feet  above, 
and  hold  the  boat  with  a  line,  while  two  men 
remain  aboard,  and  prevent  her  from  being 
dashed  against  the  rocks,  and  keep  the  line 
from  getting  caught  on  the  wall.  In  two 
hours  we  have  brought  them  all  down,  as  far 
as  it  is  possible,  in  this  way.  A  few  yards 
below,  the  river  strikes  with  great  violence 
against  a  projecting  rock,  and  our  boats  are 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    209 

pulled  up  in  a  little  bay  above.  We  must 
now  manage  to  pull  out  of  this,  and  clear  the 
point  below.  The  little  boat  is  held  by  the 
bow  obliquely  up  the  stream.  We  jump  in, 
and  pull  out  only  a  few  strokes,  and  sweep 
clear  of  the  dangerous  rock.  The  other 
boats  follow  in  the  same  manner,  and  the 
rapid  is  passed. 

It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  labor  of  such 
navigation.  We  must  prevent  the  waves 
from  dashing  the  boats  against  the  cliffs. 
Sometimes,  where  the  river  is  swift,  we  must 
put  a  bight  of  rope  about  a  rock,  to  prevent 
her  being  snatched  from  us  by  a  wave;  but 
where  the  plunge  is  too  great,  or  the  chute 
too  swift,  we  must  let  her  leap,  and  catch  her 
below,  or  the  undertow  will  drag  her  under 
the  falhng  water,  and  she  sinks.  Where  we 
wish  to  run  her  out  a  little  way  from  iShore, 
through  a  channel  between  rocks,  we  first 
throw  in  httle  sticks  of  drift  wood,  and  watch 
their  course,  to  see  where  we  must  steer,  so 
that  she  will  pass  the  channel  in  safety.  And 
so  we  hold,  and  let  go,  and  pull,  and  lift,  and 


210      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

ward,  among  rocks,  around  rocks,  and  over 
rocks. 

And  now  we  go  on  through  this  solemn, 
mysterious  way.  The  river  is  very  deep,  the 
canon  very  narrow,  and  still  obstructed,  so 
that  there  is  no  steady  flow  of  the  stream; 
but  the  waters  wheel,  and  roll,  and  boil,  and 
we  are  scarcely  able  to  determine  where  we 
can  go.  Now,  the  boat  is  carried  to  the 
right,  perhaps  close  to  the  wall;  again,  she 
is  shot  into  the  stream,  and  perhaps  is 
dragged  over  to  the  other  side,  where,  caught 
in  a  whirlpool,  she  spins  about.  We  can 
neither  land  nor  run  as  we  please.  The 
boats  are  entirely  unmanageable;  no  order 
in  their  running  can  be  preserved ;  now  one, 
now  another,  is  ahead,  each  crew  laboring  for 
its  own  preservation.  In  such  a  place  we 
come  to  another  rapid.  Two  of  the  boats 
rim  it  perforce.  One  succeeds  in  landing, 
but  there  is  no  foot-hold  by  which  to  make 
a  portage,  and  she  is  pushed  out  again  into 
the  stream.  The  next  minute  a  great  reflex 
wave  fills  the  open  compartment;  she  is 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO  ^11 

water-logged,  and  drifts  unmanageable. 
Breaker  after  breaker  rolls  over  her,  and  one 
capsizes  her.  The  men  are  thrown  out;  but 
they  cling  to  the  boat,  and  she  drifts  down 
some  distance,  alongside  of  us,  and  we  are 
able  to  catch  her.  She  is  soon  bailed  out, 
and  the  men  are  aboard  once  more;  but  the 
oars  are  lost,  so  a  pair  from  the  Emma  Dean 
is  spared.  Then  for  two  miles  we  find 
smooth  water. 

Clouds  are  playing  in  the  canon  to-day. 
Sometimes  they  roll  down  in  great  masses, 
filling  the  gorge  with  gloom;  sometimes  they 
hang  above,  from  wall  to  wall,  and  cover  the 
canon  with  a  roof  of  impending  storm;  and 
we  can  peer  long  distances  up  and  down  this 
canon  corridor,  with  its  cloud  roof  overhead, 
its  walls  of  black  granite,  and  its  river  bright 
with  the  sheen  of  broken  waters.  Then,  a 
gust  of  wind  sweeps  down  a  side  gulch,  and, 
making  a  rift  in  the  clouds,  reveals  the  blue 
heavens,  and  a  stream  of  sunlight  pours  in. 
Then,  the  clouds  drift  away  into  the  dis- 
tance, and  hang  around  crags,  and  peaks. 


S12      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

and  pinnacles,  and  towers,  and  walls,  and 
cover  them  with  a  mantle,  that  lifts  from 
time  to  time,  and  sets  them  all  in  sharp  re- 
lief. Then,  baby  clouds  creep  out  of  side 
canons,  glide  around  points,  and  creep  back 
again,  into  more  distant  gorges.  Then, 
clouds,  set  in  strata,  across  the  canon,  with 
intervening  vista  views,  to  cliffs  and  rocks 
beyond.  The  clouds  are  children  of  the 
heavens,  and  when  they  play  among  the 
rocks,  they  lift  them  to  the  region  above. 

It  rains!  Rapidly  little  rills  are  formed 
above,  and  these  soon  grow  into  brooks,  and 
the  brooks  grow  into  creeks,  and  timible  over 
the  walls  in  innumerable  cascades,  adding 
their  wild  music  to  the  roar  of  the  river. 
When  the  rain  ceases,  the  rills,  brooks,  and 
creeks  run  dry.  The  waters  that  fall,  dur- 
ing a  rain,  on  these  steep  rocks,  are  gathered 
at  once  into  the  river;  they  could  scarcely  be 
poured  in  more  suddenly,  if  some  vast  spout 
ran  from  the  clouds  to  the  stream  itself. 
When  a  storm  bursts  over  the  canon,  a  side 
gulch  is  dangerous,  for  a  sudden  flood  may 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    £13 

come,  and  the  inpouring  waters  will  raise  the 
river,  so  as  to  hide  the  rocks  before  your 
eyes. 

Early  in  the  afternoon,  we  discover  a 
stream,  entering  from  the  north,  a  clear, 
beautiful  creek,  coming  down  through  a  gor- 
geous red  canon.  We  land,  and  camp  on 
a  sand  beach,  above  its  mouth,  under  a  great, 
overspreading  tree,  with  willow  shaped 
leaves. 

August  16. — ^We  must  dry  our  rations 
again  to-day,  and  make  oars. 

The  Colorado  is  never  a  clear  stream,  but 
for  the  past  three  or  four  days  it  has  been 
raining  much  of  the  time,  and  the  floods, 
which  are  poured  over  the  walls,  have 
brought  down  great  quantities  of  mud,  mak- 
ing it  exceedingly  turbid  now.  The  little 
affluent,  which  we  have  discovered  here,  is  a 
clear,  beautiful  creek,  or  river,  as  it  would 
be  termed  in  this  western  country,  where 
streams  are  not  abundant.  We  have  named 
one  stream,  away  above,  in  honor  of  the 
great  chief  of  the  "Bad  Angels,"  and,  as  this 


^U     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

is  in  beautiful  contrast  to  tHat,  we  conclude 
to  name  it  "Bright  Angel." 

Early  in  the  morning,  the  whole  party 
starts  up  to  explore  the  Bright  Angel  River, 
with  the  special  purpose  of  seeking  timber, 
from  which  to  make  oars.  A  couple  of 
miles  above,  we  find  a  large  pine  log,  which 
has  been  floated  down  from  the  plateau, 
probably  from  an  altitude  of  more  than  six 
thousand  feet,  but  not  many  miles  back.  On 
its  way,  it  must  have  passed  over  many  cata- 
racts and  falls,  for  it  bears  scars  in  evidence 
of  the  rough  usage  which  it  has  received. 
The  men  roll  it  on  skids,  and  the  work  of 
sawing  oars  is  commenced. 

This  stream  heads  away  back,  under  a  line 
of  abrupt  cliffs,  that  terminates  the  plateau, 
and  tumbles  down  more  than  four  thousand 
feet  in  the  first  mile  or  two  of  its  course ;  then 
runs  through  a  deep,  narrow  canon,  until  it 
reaches  the  river. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  I  return,  and  go  up 
a  little  gulch,  just  above  this  creek,  about 
two  hundred  yards  from  camp,  and  discover 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    215 

the  ruins  of  two  or  three  old  houses,  which 
were  originally  of  stone,  laid  in  mortar. 
Only  the  foundations  are  left,  but  irregular 
blocks,  of  which  the  houses  were  constructed, 
lie  scattered  about.  In  one  room  I  find  an 
old  mealing  stone,  deeply  worn,  as  if  it  had 
been  much  used.  A  great  deal  of  pottery 
is  strewn  around,  and  old  trails,  which  in 
some  places  are  deeply  worn  into  the  rocks, 
are  seen. 

It  is  ever  a  source  of  wonder  to  us  why 
these  ancient  people  sought  such  inaccessible 
places  for  their  homes.  They  were,  doubt- 
less, an  agricultural  race,  but  there  are  no 
lands  here,  of  any  considerable  extent,  that 
they  could  have  cultivated.  To  the  west  of 
Oraiby,  one  of  the  towns  in  the  "Province 
of  Tusayan,"  in  Northern  Arizona,  the  in- 
habitants have  actually  built  little  terraces 
along  the  face  of  the  cliff,  where  a  spring 
gushes  out,  and  thus  made  their  sites  for 
gardens.  It  is  possible  that  the  ancient  in- 
habitants of  this  place  made  their  agricul- 
tural lands  in  the  same  way.    But  why  should 


216   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

they  seek  such  spots?  Surely,  the  country 
was  not  so  crowded  with  population  as  to 
demand  the  utilization  of  so  barren  a  region. 
The  only  solution  of  the  problem  suggested 
is  this:  We  know  that,  for  a  century  or  two 
after  the  settlement  of  Mexico,  many  expe- 
ditions were  sent  into  the  country  now  com- 
prised in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  town  building  peo- 
ple under  the  dominion  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment. Many  of  their  villages  were  de- 
stroyed, and  the  inhabitants  fled  to  regions 
at  that  time  unknown;  and  there  are  tradi- 
tions, among  the  people  who  inhabit  the 
pueblos  that  still  remain,  that  the  canons 
were  these  imknown  lands.  Maybe  these 
buildings  were  erected  at  that  time;  sure  it  is 
that  they  have  a  much  more  modern  appear- 
ance than  the  ruins  scattered  over  Nevada, 
Utah,  Colorado,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico. 
Those  old  Spanish  conquerors  had  a  mon- 
strous greed  for  gold,  and  a  wonderful  lust 
for  saving  souls.  Treasures  they  must  have ; 
if  not  on  earth,  why,  then,  in  heaven;  and 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    217 

when  they  failed  to  find  heathen  temples,  be- 
decked with  silver,  they  propitiated  Heaven 
by  seizing  the  heathen  themselves.  There  is 
yet  extant  a  copy  of  a  record,  made  by  a 
heathen  artist,  to  express  his  conception  of 
the  demands  of  the  conquerors.  In  one  part 
of  the  picture  we  have  a  lake,  and  near  by 
stands  a  priest  pouring  water  on  the  head  of 
a  native.  On  the  other  side,  a  poor  Indian 
has  a  cord  about  his  throat.  Lines  run  from 
these  two  groups,  to  a  central  figure,  a  man 
with  beard,  and  full  Spanish  panoply.  The 
interpretation  of  the  picture  writing  is  this: 
"Be  baptized,  as  this  saved  heathen;  or  be 
hanged,  as  that  damned  heathen."  Doubt- 
less, some  of  these  people  preferred  a  third 
alternative,  and,  rather  than  be  baptized  or 
hanged,  they  chose  to  be  imprisoned  within 
these  canon  walls. 

August  17. — Our  rations  are  still  spoiling; 
the  bacon  is  so  badly  injured  that  we  are 
compelled  to  throw  it  away.  By  an  acci- 
dent, this  morning,  the  saleratus  is  lost  over- 
board.    We   have   now   only   musty   flour 


218      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

sufficient  for  ten  days,  a  few  dried  apples, 
but  plenty  of  coffee.  We  must  make  all 
haste  possible.  If  we  meet  with  difficulties, 
as  we  have  done  in  the  canon  above,  we  may 
be  compelled  to  give  up  the  expedition,  and 
try  to  reach  the  Mormon  settlements  to  the 
north.  Our  hopes  are  that  the  worst  places 
are  passed,  but  our  barometers  are  all  so 
much  injured  as  to  be  useless,  so  we  have 
lost  our  reckoning  in  altitude,  and  know  not 
how  much  descent  the  river  has  yet  to  make. 

The  stream  is  still  wild  and  rapid,  and 
rolls  through  a  narrow  channel.  We  make 
but  slow  progress,  often  landing  against  a 
wall,  and  climbing  around  some  point,  where 
we  can  see  the  river  below.  Although  very 
anxious  to  advance,  we  are  determined  to 
run  with  great  caution,  lest,  by  another  acci- 
dent, we  lose  all  our  supplies.  How  pre- 
cious that  little  flour  has  become!  We  di- 
vide it  among  the  boats,  and  carefully  store 
it  away,  so  that  it  can  be  lost  only  by  the  loss 
of  the  boat  itself. 

We  make  ten  miles  and  a  half,  and  camp 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    219 

among  the  rocks,  on  the  right.  We  have 
had  rain,  from  time  to  time,  all  day,  and 
have  been  thoroughly  drenched  and  chilled; 
but  between  showers  the  sun  shines  with 
great  power,  and  the  mercury  in  our  ther- 
mometers stands  at  115°,  so  that  we  have 
rapid  changes  from  great  extremes,  which 
are  very  disagreeable.  It  is  especially  cold 
in  the  rain  to-night.  The  little  canvas  we 
have  is  rotten  and  useless;  the  rubber  pon- 
chos, with  which  we  started  from  Green 
River  City,  have  all  been  lost ;  more  than  half 
the  party  is  without  hats,  and  not  one  of  us 
has  an  entire  suit  of  clothes,  and  we  have 
not  a  blanket  apiece.  So  we  gather  drift 
wood,  and  build  a  fire;  but  after  supper  the 
rain,  coming  down  in  torrents,  extinguishes 
it,  and  we  sit  up  all  night,  on  the  rocks,  shiv- 
ering, and  are  more  exhausted  by  the  night's 
discomfort  than  by  the  day's  toil. 

August  18. — The  day  is  employed  in  mak- 
ing portages,  and  we  advance  but  two  miles 
on  our  journey.     Still  it  rains. 

While  the  men  are  at  work  making  por- 


220      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

tages,  I  climb  up  the  granite  to  its  summit, 
and  go  away  back  over  the  rust  colored  sand- 
stones and  greenish  yellow  shales,  to  the  foot 
of  the  marble  wall.  I  cKmb  so  high  that  the 
men  and  boats  are  lost  in  the  black  depths 
below,  and  the  dashing  river  is  a  rippling 
brook;  and  still  there  is  more  canon  above 
than  below.  All  about  me  are  interesting 
geological  records.  The  book  is  open,  and 
I  can  read  as  I  run.  All  about  me  are  grand 
views,  for  the  clouds  are  playing  again  in 
the  gorges.  But  somehow  I  think  of  the 
nine  days'  rations,  and  the  bad  river,  and  the 
lesson  of  the  rocks,  and  the  glory  of  the  scene 
is  but  half  seen. 

I  push  on  to  an  angle,  where  I  hope  to  get 
a  view  of  the  country  beyond,  to  see,  if  pos- 
sible, what  the  prospect  may  be  of  our  soon 
running  through  this  plateau,  or,  at  least,  of 
meeting  with  some  geological  change  that 
will  let  us  out  of  the  granite;  but,  arriving 
at  the  point,  I  can  see  below  only  a  labyrinth 
of  deep  gorges. 

August  19. — ^Rain  again  this  morning. 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    221 

Still  we  are  in  our  granite  prison,  and  the 
time  is  occupied  until  noon  in  making  a  long, 
bad  portage. 

After  dinner,  in  running  a  rapid,  the 
pioneer  boat  is  upset  by  a  wave.  We  are 
some  distance  in  advance  of  the  larger  boats, 
the  river  is  rough  and  swift,  and  we  are  un- 
able to  land,  but  cling  to  the  boat,  and  are 
carried  down  stream,  over  another  rapid. 
The  men  in  the  boats  above  see  our  trouble, 
but  they  are  caught  in  whirlpools,  and  are 
spinning  about  in  eddies,  and  it  seems  a  long 
time  before  they  come  to  our  relief.  At  last 
they  do  come;  our  boat  is  turned  right  side 
up,  bailed  out;  the  oars,  which  fortunately 
have  floated  along  in  company  with  us,  are 
gathered  up,  and  on  we  go,  without  even 
landing. 

Soon  after  the  accident  the  clouds  break 
away,  and  we  have  sunshine  again. 

Soon  we  find  a  little  beach,  with  just  room 
enough  to  land.  Here  we  camp,  but  there 
is  no  wood.  Across  the  river,  and  a  little 
way  above,  we  see  some  drift  wood  lodged 


£22      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

in  the  rocks.  So  we  bring  two  boat  loads 
over,  build  a  huge  fire,  and  spread  everything 
to  dry.  It  is  the  first  cheerful  night  we  have 
had  for  a  week;  a  warm,  drying  fire  in  the 
midst  of  the  camp,  and  a  few  bright  stars  in 
our  patch  of  heavens  overhead. 

August  20. — The  characteristics  of  the 
canon  change  this  morning.  The  river  is 
broader,  the  walls  more  sloping,  and  com- 
posed of  black  slates,  that  stand  on  edge. 
These  nearly  vertical  slates  are  washed  out 
in  places — that  is,  the  softer  beds  are  washed 
out  between  the  harder,  which  are  left  stand- 
ing. In  this  way,  curious  little  alcoves  are 
formed,  in  which  are  quiet  bays  of  water, 
but  on  a  much  smaller  scale  than  the  great 
bays  and  buttresses  of  Marble  Canon. 

The  river  is  still  rapid,  and  we  stop  to  let 
down  with  lines  several  times,  but  make 
greater  progress  as  we  run  ten  miles.  We 
camp  on  the  right  bank.  Here,  on  a  ter- 
race of  trap,  we  discover  another  group  of 
ruins.  There  was  evidently  quite  a  village 
on  this  rock.     Again  we  find  mealing  stones. 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    223 

and  much  broken  pottery,  and  up  in  a  little 
natural  shelf  in  the  rock,  back  of  the  ruins, 
we  find  a  globular  basket,  that  would  hold 
perhaps  a  third  of  a  bushel.  It  is  badly 
broken,  and,  as  I  attempt  to  take  it  up,  it 
falls  to  pieces.  There  are  many  beautiful 
flint  chips,  as  if  tliis  had  been  the  home  of 
an  old  arrow  maker. 

August  21. — We  start  early  this  morning, 
cheered  by  the  prospect  of  a  fine  day,  and 
encouraged,  also,  by  the  good  run  made  yes- 
terday. A  quarter  of  a  mile  below  camp 
the  river  turns  abruptly  to  the  left,  and  be- 
tween camp  and  that  point  is  very  swift,  run- 
ning down  in  a  long,  broken  chute,  and  piling 
up  against  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  where  it  turns 
to  the  left.  We  try  to  pull  across,  so  as  to 
go  down  on  the  other  side,  but  the  waters  are 
swift,  and  it  seems  impossible  for  us  to  es- 
cape the  rock  below;  but,  in  pulhng  across, 
the  bow  of  the  boat  is  turned  to  the  farther 
shore,  so  that  we  are  swept  broadside  down, 
and  are  prevented,  by  the  rebounding  waters, 
from  striking  against  the  wall.     There  we 


^M      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

toss  about  for  a  few  seconds  in  these  billows, 
and  are  carried  past  the  danger.  Below,  the 
river  turns  again  to  the  right,  the  canon  is 
very  narrow,  and  we  see  in  advance  but  a 
short  distance.  The  water,  too,  is  very 
swift,  and  there  is  no  landing  place.  From 
around  this  curve  there  comes  a  mad  roar, 
and  down  we  are  carried,  with  a  dizzying 
velocity,  to  the  head  of  another  rapid.  On 
either  side,  high  over  our  heads,  there  are 
overhanging  granite  walls,  and  the  sharp 
bends  cut  off  our  view,  so  that  a  few  minutes 
will  carry  us  into  unknown  waters.  Away 
we  go,  on  one  long,  winding  chute.  I  stand 
on  deck,  supporting  myself  with  a  strap,  fas- 
tened on  either  side  to  the  gunwale,  and  the 
boat  glides  rapidly,  where  the  water  is 
smooth,  or,  striking  a  wave,  she  leaps  and 
bounds  like  a  thing  of  life,  and  we  have  a 
wild,  exhilarating  ride  for  ten  miles,  which 
we  make  in  less  than  an  hour.  The  excite- 
ment is  so  great  that  we  forget  the  danger, 
until  we  hear  the  roar  of  the  great  fall  be- 
low; then  we  back  on  our  oars,  and  are  car- 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    ns 

ried  slowly  toward  its  head,  and  succeed  in 
landing  just  above,  and  find  that  we  have  to 
make  another  portage.  At  this  we  are  en- 
gaged until  some  time  after  dinner. 

Just  here  we  run  out  of  the  granite ! 

Ten  miles  in  less  than  half  a  day,  and  lime- 
stone walls  below.  Good  cheer  returns;  we 
forget  the  storms,  and  the  gloom,  and  cloud 
covered  canons,  and  the  black  granite,  and 
the  raging  river,  and  push  our  boats  from 
shore  in  great  glee. 

Though  we  are  out  of  the  granite,  the  river 
is  still  swift,  and  we  wheel  about  a  point 
again  to  the  right,  and  turn,  so  as  to  head 
back  in  the  direction  from  which  we  came, 
and  see  the  granite  again,  with  its  narrow 
gorge  and  black  crags;  but  we  meet  with 
no  more  great  falls,  or  rapids.  Still,  we  run 
cautiously,  and  stop,  from  time  to  time,  to 
examine  some  places  which  look  bad.  Yet, 
we  make  ten  miles  this  afternoon;  twenty 
miles,  in  all,  to-day. 

August  22. — ^We  come  to  rapids  again, 
this  morning,  and  are  occupied  several  hours 


2S6      FIRST  THROUGH  GtRAND  CANYON 

in  passing  them,  letting  the  boats  down,  from 
rock  to  rock,  with  hnes,  for  nearly  half  a 
mile,  and  then  have  to  make  a  long  portage. 
While  the  men  are  engaged  in  this,  I  climb 
the  wall  on  the  northeast,  to  a  height  of  about 
two  thousand  five  hundred  feet,  where  I  can 
obtain  a  good  view  of  a  long  stretch  of  canon 
below.  Its  course  is  to  the  southwest.  The 
walls  seem  to  rise  very  abruptly,  for  two 
thousand  five  hundred  or  three  thousand  feet, 
and  then  there  is  a  gently  sloping  terrace, 
on  each  side,  for  two  or  three  miles,  and  again 
we  find  cUflfs,  one  thousand  five  hundred  or 
two  thousand  feet  high.  From  the  brink  of 
these  the  plateau  stretches  back  to  the  north 
and  south,  for  a  long  distance.  Away  down 
the  canon,  on  the  right  wall,  I  can  see  a 
group  of  mountains,  some  of  which  appear 
to  stand  on  the  brink  of  the  canon.  The  ef- 
fect of  the  terrace  is  to  give  the  appearance 
of  a  narrow  winding  valley,  with  high  walls 
on  either  side,  and  a  deep,  dark,  meandering 
gorge  down  its  middle.  It  is  impossible, 
from  this  point  of  view,  to  determine  whether 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    nl 

we  have  granite  at  the  bottom,  or  not;  but, 
from  geological  considerations,  I  conclude 
that  we  shall  have  marble  walls  below. 

After  my  return  to  the  boats,  we  run  an- 
other mile,  and  camp  for  the  night. 

We  have  made  but  little  over  seven  miles 
to-day,  and  a  part  of  our  flour  has  been 
soaked  in  the  river  again. 

August  23. — Our  way  to-day  is  again 
through  marble  walls.  Now  and  then  we 
pass,  for  a  short  distance,  through  patches 
of  granite,  like  hills  thrust  up  into  the  lime- 
stone. At  one  of  these  places  we  have  to 
make  another  portage,  and,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  delay,  I  go  up  a  little  stream,  to 
the  north,  wading  it  all  the  way,  sometimes 
having  to  plunge  in  to  my  neck;  in  other 
places  being  compelled  to  swim  across  little 
basins  that  have  been  excavated  at  the  foot 
of  the  falls.  Along  its  course  are  many  cas- 
cades and  springs  gushing  out  from  the  rocks 
on  either  side.  Sometimes  a  cottonwood 
tree  grows  over  the  water.  I  come  to  one 
beautiful  fall,  of  more  than  a  hundred  and 


228      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

fifty  feet,  and  climb  around  it  to  the  right, 
on  the  broken  rocks.  Still  going  up,  I  find 
the  canon  narrowing  very  much,  being  but 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  wide;  yet  the  walls 
rise  on  either  side  many  hundreds  of  feet, 
perhaps  thousands ;  I  can  hardly  tell. 

In  some  places  the  stream  has  not  exca- 
vated its  channel  down  vertically  through  the 
rocks,  but  has  cut  obliquely,  so  that  one  wall 
overhangs  the  other.  In  other  places  it  is 
cut  vertically  above  and  obliquely  below,  or 
obliquely  above  and  vertically  below,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  to  see  out  overhead.  But  I 
can  go  no  farther.  The  time  which  I  esti- 
mated it  would  take  to  make  the  portage  has 
almost  expired,  and  I  start  back  on  a  round 
trot,  wading  in  the  creek  where  I  must,  and 
plunging  through  basins,  and  find  the  men 
waiting  for  me,  and  away  we  go  on  the  river. 

Just  after  dinner  we  pass  a  stream  on  the 
right,  which  leaps  into  the  Colorado  by  a  di- 
rect fall  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet,  form- 
ing a  beautiful  cascade.  There  is  a  bed  of 
very  hard  rock  above,  thirty  or  forty  feet  in 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    229 

thickness,  and  much  softer  beds  below.  The 
hard  beds  above  project  many  yards  beyond 
the  softer,  which  are  washed  out,  forming  a 
deep  cave  behind  the  fall,  and  the  stream 
pours  through  a  narrow  crevice  above  into 
a  deep  pool  below.  Around  on  the  rocks, 
in  the  cave  like  chamber,  are  set  beautiful 
ferns,  with  delicate  fronds  and  enameled 
stalks.  The  little  frondlets  have  their  points 
turned  down,  to  form  spore  cases.  It  has 
very  much  the  appearance  of  the  Maiden's 
hair  fern,  but  is  much  larger.  This  delicate 
foliage  covers  the  rocks  all  about  the  foun- 
tain, and  gives  the  chamber  great  beauty. 
But  we  have  little  time  to  spend  in  admira- 
tion, so  on  we  go. 

We  make  fine  progress  this  afternoon, 
carried  along  by  a  swift  river,  and  shoot 
over  the  rapids,  finding  no  serious  obstruc- 
tions. 

The  canon  walls,  for  two  thousand  five 
hundi^ed  or  three  thousand  feet,  are  very  reg- 
ular, rising  almost  perpendicularly,  but  here 
and  there  set  with  narrow  steps,  and  occa- 


230   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

sionally  we  can  see  away  above  the  broad  ter- 
race, to  distant  cliffs. 

We  camp  to-night  in  a  marble  cave,  and 
find,  on  looking  at  our  reckoning,  we  have 
rim  twenty-two  miles. 

August  24. — The  canon  is  wider  to-day. 
The  walls  rise  to  a  vertical  height  of  nearly 
three  thousand  feet.  In  many  places  the 
river  runs  under  a  cliff,  in  great  curves,  form- 
ing amphitheaters,  half  dome  shaped. 

Though  the  river  is  rapid,  we  meet  with 
no  serious  obstructions,  and  run  twenty 
miles.  It  is  curious  how  anxious  we  are  to 
make  up  our  reckoning  every  time  we  stop, 
now  that  our  diet  is  confined  to  plenty  of 
coffee,  very  little  spoiled  flour,  and  very  few 
dried  apples.  It  has  come  to  be  a  race  for 
a  dinner.  Still,  we  make  such  fine  progress, 
all  hands  are  in  good  cheer,  but  not  a  mo- 
ment of  daylight  is  lost. 

August  25. — ^We  make  twelve  miles  this 
morning,  when  we  come  to  monuments  of 
lava,  standing  in  the  river;  low  rocks,  mostly, 
but  some  of  them  shafts  more  than  a  hundred 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    231 

feet  high.  Going  on  down,  three  or  four 
miles,  we  find  them  increasing  in  number. 
Great  quantities  of  cooled  lava  and  many 
cinder  cones  are  seen  on  either  side ;  and  then 
we  come  to  an  abrupt  cataract.  Just  over 
the  fall,  on  the  right  wall,  a  cinder  cone,  or 
extinct  volcano,  with  a  well  defined  crater, 
stands  on  the  very  brink  of  the  canon.  This, 
doubtless,  is  the  one  we  saw  two  or  three 
days  ago.  From  this  volcano  vast  floods  of 
lava  have  been  poured  down  into  the  river, 
and  a  stream  of  the  molten  rock  has  run  up 
the  canon,  three  or  four  miles,  and  down,  we 
know  not  how  far.  Just  where  it  poured 
over  the  canon  wall  is  the  fall.  The  whole 
north  side,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  is  lined  with 
the  black  basalt,  and  high  up  on  the  oppo- 
site wall  are  patches  of  the  same  material, 
resting  on  the  benches,  and  filling  old  al- 
coves and  caves,  giving  to  the  wall  a  spotted 
appearance. 

The  rocks  are  broken  in  two,  along  a  line 
which  here  crosses  the  river,  and  the  beds, 
which  we  have  seen  coming  down  the  canon 


232      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

for  the  last  thirty  miles,  have  dropped  800 
feet,  on  the  lower  side  of  the  line,  forming 
what  geologists  call  a  fault.  The  volcanic 
cone  stands  directly  over  the  fissure  thus 
formed.  On  the  side  of  the  river  opposite, 
mammoth  springs  burst  out  of  this  crevice, 
one  or  two  hundred  feet  above  the  river, 
pouring  in  a  stream  quite  equal  in  volume  to 
the  Colorado  Chiquito. 

This  stream  seems  to  be  loaded  with  car- 
bonate of  lime,  and  the  water,  evaporating, 
leaves  an  incrustation  on  the  rocks ;  and  this 
process  has  been  continued  for  a  long  time, 
for  extensive  deposits  are  noticed,  in  which 
are  basins,  with  bubbling  springs.  The  wa- 
ter is  salty. 

We  have  to  make  a  portage  here,  which  is 
completed  in  about  three  hours,  and  on  we 
go. 

We  have  no  difiiculty  as  we  float  along, 
and  I  am  able  to  observe  the  wonderful  phe- 
nomena connected  with  this  flood  of  lava. 
The  canon  was  doubtless  filled  to  a  height 
of  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  feet,  perhaps 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    233 

by  more  than  one  flood.  This  would  dam 
the  water  back;  and  in  cutting  through  this 
great  lava  bed,  a  new  channel  has  been 
formed,  sometimes  on  one  side,  sometimes 
on  the  other.  The  cooled  lava,  being  of 
firmer  texture  than  the  rocks  of  which  the 
walls  are  composed,  remains  in  some  places; 
in  others  a  narrow  channel  has  been  cut,  leav- 
ing a  line  of  basalt  on  either  side.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  lava  cooled  faster  on  the  sides 
against  the  walls,  and  that  the  center  ran 
out;  but  of  this  we  can  only  conjecture. 
There  are  other  places,  where  almost  the 
whole  of  the  lava  is  gone,  patches  of  it  only 
being  seen  where  it  has  caught  on  the  walls. 
As  we  float  down,  we  can  see  that  it  ran  out 
into  side  canons.  In  some  places  this  basalt 
has  a  fine,  columnar  structure,  often  in  con- 
centric prisms,  and  masses  of  these  concen- 
tric columns  have  coalesced.  In  some  places, 
when  the  flow  occurred,  the  canon  was  prob- 
ably at  about  the  same  depth  as  it  is  now, 
for  we  can  see  where  the  basalt  has  rolled  out 
on  the  sands,  and,  what  seems  curious  to  me, 


234   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  sands  are  not  melted  or  metamorphosed 
to  any  appreciable  extent.  In  places  the 
bed  of  the  river  is  of  sandstone  or  limestone, 
in  other  places  of  lava,  showing  that  it  has 
all  been  cut  out  again  where  the  sandstones 
and  limestones  appear;  but  there  is  a  little 
yet  left  where  the  bed  is  of  lava. 

What  a  conflict  of  water  and  fire  there 
must  have  been  here !  Just  imagine  a  river 
of  molten  rock,  running  down  into  a  river  of 
melted  snow.  What  a  seething  and  boiling 
of  the  waters;  what  clouds  of  steam  rolled 
into  the  heavens! 

Thirty-five  miles  to-day.     Hurrah! 

August  26. — The  canon  walls  are  steadily 
becoming  higher  as  we  advance.  They  are 
still  bold,  and  nearly  vertical  up  to  the  ter- 
race. We  still  see  evidence  of  the  eruption 
discovered  yesterday,  but  the  thickness  of  the 
basalt  is  decreasing,  as  we  go  down  the 
stream;  yet  it  has  been  reinforced  at  points 
by  streams  that  have  come  down  from  vol- 
canoes standing  on  the  terrace  above,  but 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO  ^35 

which  we  cannot  see  from  the  river  below. 
Since  we  left  the  Colorado  Chiquito,  we 
have  seen  no  evidences  that  the  tribe  of  In- 
dians inhabiting  the  plateaus  on  either  side 
ever  come  down  to  the  river;  but  about 
eleven  o'clock  to-day  we  discover  an  Indian 
garden,  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  on  the  right, 
just  where  a  httle  stream,  with  a  narrow 
flood  plain,  comes  down  through  a  side  canon. 
Along  the  valley,  the  Indians  have  planted 
corn,  using  the  water  which  burst  out  in 
springs  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  for  irrigation. 
The  corn  is  looking  quite  well,  but  is  not  suf- 
ficiently advanced  to  give  us  roasting  ears; 
but  there  are  some  nice,  green  squashes.  We 
carry  ten  or  a  dozen  of  these  on  board  our 
boats,  and  hurriedly  leave,  not  willing  to  be 
caught  in  the  robbery,  yet  excusing  ourselves 
by  pleading  our  great  want.  We  run  down 
a  short  distance,  to  where  we  feel  certain  no 
Indians  can  follow;  and  what  a  kettle  of 
squash  sauce  we  make!  True,  we  have  no 
salt  with  which  to  season  it,  but  it  makes  a 


236   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

fine  addition  to  our  unleavened  bread  and 
coffee.  Never  vras  fruit  so  sweet  as  these 
stolen  squashes. 

After  dinner  we  push  on  again,  making 
fine  time,  finding  many  rapids,  but  none  so 
bad  that  we  cannot  run  them  with  safety, 
and  when  we  stop,  just  at  dusk,  and  foot  up 
our  reckoning,  we  find  we  have  run  thirty- 
five  miles  again. 

What  a  supper  we  make;  unleavened 
bread,  green  squash  sauce,  and  strong  cof- 
fee. We  have  been  for  a  few  days  on  half 
rations,  but  we  have  no  stint  of  roast  squash. 

A  few  days  like  this,  and  we  shall  be  out 
of  prison. 

August  27. — This  morning  the  river  takes 
a  more  southerly  direction.  The  dip  of  the 
rocks  is  to  the  north,  and  we  are  rapidly  run- 
ning into  lower  formations.  Unless  our 
course  changes,  we  shall  very  soon  run  again 
into  the  granite.  This  gives  us  some  anx- 
iety. Now  and  then  the  river  turns  to  the 
west,  and  excites  hopes  that  are  soon  de- 
stroyed by  another  turn  to  the  south.     About 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    237 

nine  o'clock  we  come  to  the  dreaded  rock. 
It  is  with  no  little  misgiving  that  we  see  the 
river  enter  these  black,  hard  walls.  At  its 
very  entrance  we  have  to  make  a  portage; 
then  we  have  to  let  down  with  lines  past  some 
ugly  rocks.  Then  we  run  a  mile  or  two 
farther,  and  then  the  rapids  below  can  be 
seen. 

About  eleven  o'clock  we  come  to  a  place 
in  the  river  where  it  seems  much  worse  than 
any  we  have  yet  met  in  all  its  course.  A  lit- 
tle creek  comes  down  from  the  left.  We 
land  first  on  the  right,  and  clamber  up  over 
the  granite  pinnacles  for  a  mile  or  two,  but 
can  see  no  way  by  which  we  can  let  down, 
and  to  run  it  would  be  sure  destruction. 
After  dinner  we  cross  to  examine  it  on  the 
left.  High  above  the  river  we  can  walk  along 
on  the  top  of  the  granite,  which  is  broken  off 
at  the  edge,  and  set  with  crags  and  pinnacles, 
so  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  a  view  of  the 
river  at  all.  In  my  eagerness  to  reach  a 
point  where  I  can  see  the  roaring  fall  below, 
I  go  too  far  on  the  wall,  and  can  neither  ad- 


^SS      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

vance  nor  retreat.  I  stand  with  one  foot  on 
a  little  projecting  rock,  and  cling  with  my 
hand  fixed  in  a  little  crevice.  Finding  I  am 
caught  here,  suspended  400  feet  above  the 
river,  into  which  I  should  fall  if  my  footing 
fails,  I  call  for  help.  The  men  come,  and 
pass  me  a  line,  but  I  cannot  let  go  of  the 
rock  long  enough  to  take  hold  of  it.*  Then 
they  bring  two  or  three  of  the  largest  oars. 
All  this  takes  time  which  seems  very  precious 
to  me;  but  at  last  they  arrive.  The  blade  of 
one  of  the  oars  is  pushed  into  a  little  crevice 
in  the  rock  beyond  me,  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  can  hold  me  pressed  against  the  wall. 
Then  another  is  fixed  in  such  a  way  that  I 
can  step  on  it,  and  thus  I  am  extricated. 

Still  another  hour  is  spent  in  examining 
the  river  from  this  side,  but  no  good  view  of 
it  is  obtained,  so  now  we  return  to  the  side 
that  was  first  examined,  and  the  afternoon  is 
spent  in  clambering  among  the  crags  and 
pinnacles,  and  carefully  scanning  the  river 

*  It  should  be  remembered  that  Major  Powell  had  only 
one  arm.     {Ed.) 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    239 

again.  We  find  that  the  lateral  streams 
have  washed  boulders  into  the  river,  so  as  to 
form  a  dam,  over  which  the  water  makes  a 
broken  fall  of  eighteen  or  twenty  feet;  then 
there  is  a  rapid,  beset  with  rocks,  for  two  or 
three  hmidred  yards,  while,  on  the  other  side, 
points  of  the  wall  project  into  the  river. 
Then  there  is  a  second  fall  below;  how  great, 
we  cannot  tell.  Then  there  is  a  rapid,  filled 
with  huge  rocks,  for  one  or  two  hundred 
yards.  At  the  bottom  of  it,  from  the  right 
wall,  a  great  rock  projects  quite  half  way 
across  the  river.  It  has  a  sloping  surface 
extending  up  stream,  and  the  water,  coming 
down  with  all  the  momentum  gained  in  the 
falls  and  rapids  above,  rolls  up  this  inclined 
plane  many  feet,  and  tumbles  over  to  the  left. 
I  decide  that  it  is  possible  to  let  down  over 
the  first  fall,  then  run  near  the  right  cliff  to 
a  point  just  above  the  second,  where  we  can 
pull  out  into  a  little  chute,  and,  having  run 
over  that  in  safety,  we  must  pull  with  all  our 
power  across  the  stream,  to  avoid  the  great 
rock  below.     On  my  return  to  the  boat,  I 


^40      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

announce  to  the  men  that  we  are  to  run  it 
in  the  morning.  Then  we  cross  the  river, 
and  go  into  camp  for  the  night  on  some 
rocks,  in  the  mouth  of  the  little  canon. 

After  supper  Captain  Howland  asks  to 
have  a  talk  with  me.  We  walk  up  the  little 
creek  a  short  distance,  and  I  soon  find  that 
his  object  is  to  remonstrate  against  my  de- 
termination to  proceed.  He  thinks  that  we 
had  better  abandon  the  river  here.  Talking 
with  him,  I  learn  that  his  brother,  William 
Dunn,  and  himself  have  determined  to  go 
no  farther  in  the  boats.  So  we  return  to 
camp.     Nothing  is  said  to  the  other  men. 

For  the  last  two  days,  our  course  has  not 
been  plotted.  I  sit  down  and  do  this  now, 
for  the  purpose  of  finding  where  we  are  by 
dead  reckoning.  It  is  a  clear  night,  and  I 
take  out  the  sextant  to  make  observation  for 
latitude,  and  find  that  the  astronomic  de- 
termination agrees  very  nearly  with  that  of 
the  plot — quite  as  closely  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, from  a  meridian  observation  on  a 
planet.     In  a  direct  line,  we  must  be  about 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    Ml 

forty-five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Virgen.  If  we  can  reach  that  point,  we 
know  that  there  are  settlements  up  that  river 
about  twenty  miles.  This  forty-five  miles, 
in  a  direct  line,  will  probably  be  eighty  or 
ninety  in  the  meandering  line  of  the  river. 
But  then  we  know  that  there  is  compara- 
tively open  country  for  many  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Virgen,  which  is  our  point 
of  destination. 

As  soon  as  I  determine  all  this,  I  spread 
my  plot  on  the  sand,  and  wake  Rowland, 
who  is  sleeping  down  by  the  river,  and  show 
him  where  I  suppose  we  are,  and  where  sev- 
eral Mormon  settlements  are  situated. 

We  have  another  short  talk  about  the  mor- 
row, and  he  lies  down  again ;  but  for  me  there 
is  no  sleep.  All  night  long,  I  pace  up  and 
down  a  little  path,  on  a  few  yards  of  sand 
beach,  along  by  the  river.  Is  it  wise  to  go 
on?  I  go  to  the  boats  again,  to  look  at  our 
rations.  I  feel  satisfied  that  we  can  get  over 
the  danger  immediately  before  us;  what 
there  may  be  below  I  know  not.     From  our 


242      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

outlook  yesterday,  on  the  cliffs,  the  canon 
seemed  to  make  another  great  bend  to  the 
south,  and  this,  from  our  experience  hereto- 
fore, means  more  and  higher  granite  walls. 
I  am  not  sure  that  we  can  climb  out  of  the 
canon  here,  and,  when  at  the  top  of  the  wall, 
I  know  enough  of  the  country  to  be  certain 
that  it  is  a  desert  of  rock  and  sand,  between 
this  and  the  nearest  Mormon  town,  which,  on 
the  most  direct  line,  must  be  seventy-five 
miles  away.  True,  the  late  rains  have  been 
favorable  to  us,  should  we  go  out,  for  the 
probabihties  are  that  we  shall  find  water  still 
standing  in  holes,  and,  at  one  time,  I  almost 
conclude  to  leave  the  river.  But  for  years  I 
have  been  contemplating  this  trip.  To  leave 
the  exploration  unfinished,  to  say  that  there 
is  a  part  of  the  canon  which  I  cannot  explore, 
having  already  almost  accomplished  it,  is 
more  than  I  am  willing  to  acknowledge,  and 
I  determine  to  go  on. 

I  wake  my  brother,  and  tell  him  of  How- 
land's  determination,  and  he  promises  to 
stay  with  me;  then  I  call  up  Hawkins,  the 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO  MS 

cook,  and  he  makes  a  like  promise;  then 
Sumner,  and  Bradley,  and  Hall,  and  they 
all  agree  to  go  on. 

August  28. — At  last  daylight  comes,  and 
we  have  breakfast,  without  a  word  being 
said  about  the  future.  The  meal  is  as  sol- 
emn as  a  funeral.  After  breakfast,  I  ask 
the  three  men  if  they  still  think  it  best  to 
leave  us.  The  elder  Howland  thinks  it  is, 
and  Dunn  agi'ees  with  him.  The  younger 
Howland  tries  to  persuade  them  to  go  on 
with  the  party,  failing  in  which,  he  decides 
to  go  with  his  brother. 

Then  we  cross  the  river.  The  small  boat 
is  very  much  disabled,  and  unseaworthy. 
With  the  loss  of  hands,  consequent  on  the 
departure  of  the  three  men,  we  shall  not  be 
able  to  run  all  of  the  boats,  so  I  decide  to 
leave  my  Emma  Dean, 

Two  rifles  and  a  shotgun  are  given  to  the 
men  who  are  going  out.  I  ask  them  to  help 
themselves  to  the  rations,  and  take  what  they 
think  to  be  a  fair  share.  This  they  refuse 
to  do,  saying  they  have  no  fear  but  that  they; 


244.      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

can  get  something  to  eat;  but  Billy,  the 
cook,  has  a  pan  of  biscuits  prepared  for  din- 
ner, and  these  he  leaves  on  a  rock. 

Before  starting,  we  take  our  barometers, 
fossils,  the  minerals,  and  some  ammunition 
from  the  boat,  and  leave  them  on  the  rocks. 
We  are  going  over  this  place  as  light  as  pos- 
sible. The  three  men  help  us  lift  our  boats 
over  a  rock  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  high, 
and  let  them  down  again  over  the  first  fall, 
and  now  we  are  all  ready  to  start.  The  last 
thing  before  leaving,  I  write  a  letter  to  my 
wife,  and  give  it  to  Howland.  Sumner 
gives  him  his  watch,  directing  that  it  be  sent 
to  his  sister,  should  he  not  be  heard  from 
again.  The  records  of  the  expedition  have 
been  kept  in  duplicate.  One  set  of  these  is 
given  to  Howland,  and  now  we  are  ready. 
For  the  last  time,  they  entreat  us  not  to  go 
on,  and  tell  us  that  it  is  madness  to  set  out 
in  this  place;  that  we  can  never  get  safely 
through  it ;  and,  further,  that  the  river  turns 
again  to  the  south  into  the  granite,  and  a 
few  miles  of  such  rapids  and  falls  will  ex- 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    246 

haust  our  entire  stock  of  rations,  and  then 
it  will  be  too  late  to  climb  out.  Some  tears 
are  shed ;  it  is  rather  a  solemn  parting ;  each 
party  thinks  the  other  is  taking  the  danger- 
ous course. 

My  old  boat  left,  I  go  on  board  of  the 
Maid  of  the  Canon,  The  three  men  climb  a 
crag,  that  overhangs  the  river,  to  watch  us 
off.  The  Maid  of  the  Canon  pushes  out. 
We  glide  rapidly  along  the  foot  of  the  wall, 
just  grazing  one  great  rock,  then  pull  out  a 
little  into  the  chute  of  the  second  fall,  and 
plunge  over  it.  The  open  compartment  is 
filled  when  we  strike  the  first  wave  below, 
but  we  cut  through  it,  and  then  the  men  pull 
with  all  their  power  toward  the  left  wall, 
and  swing  clear  of  the  dangerous  rock  below 
all  right.  We  are  scarcely  a  minute  in  run- 
ning it,  and  find  that,  although  it  looked  bad 
from  above,  we  have  passed  many  places  that 
were  worse. 

The  other  boat  follows  without  more  dif- 
ficulty. We  land  at  the  first  practicable 
point  below  and  fire  our  guns,  as  a  signal 


^46      FmST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

to  the  men  above  that  we  have  come  over  in 
safety.  Here  we  remain  a  couple  of  hours, 
hoping  that  they  will  take  the  smaller  boat 
and  follow  us.  We  are  behind  a  curve  in 
the  canon,  and  cannot  see  up  to  where  we 
left  them,  and  so  we  wait  until  their  coming 
seems  hopeless,  and  push  on.* 

And  now  we  have  a  succession  of  rapids 
and  falls  until  noon,  all  of  which  we  run  in 
safety.  Just  after  dinner  we  come  to  an- 
other bad  place.  A  little  stream  comes  in 
from  the  left,  and  below  there  is  a  fall,  and 
still  below  another  fall.  Above,  the  river 
tumbles  down,  over  and  among  the  rocks,  in 
whirlpools  and  great  waves,  and  the  waters 
are  lashed  into  mad,  white  foam.  We  run 
along  the  left,  above  this,  and  soon  see  that 
we  cannot  get  down  on  this  side,  but  it  seems 
possible  to  let  down  on  the  other.  We  pull 
up  stream  again,  for  two  or  three  hundred 
yards,  and  cross.  Now  there  is  a  bed  of 
basalt  on  this  northern  side  of  the  canon,  with 

*  For  the  miserable  fate  of  these  men  see  forward  under 
date  of  Sept.  19,  1870.     (Ed.) 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    247 

a  bold  escarpment,  that  seems  to  be  a  hun- 
dred feet  high.  We  can  climb  it,  and  walk 
along  its  summit  to  a  point  where  we  are 
just  at  the  head  of  the  fall.  Here  the  basalt 
is  broken  down  again,  so  it  seems  to  us,  and 
I  direct  the  men  to  take  a  line  to  the  top  of 
the  cliff,  and  let  the  boats  down  along  the 
wall.  One  man  remains  in  the  boat,  to  keep 
her  clear  of  the  rocks,  and  prevent  her  line 
from  being  caught  on  the  projecting  angles. 
I  climb  the  cliff,  and  pass  along  to  a  point 
just  over  the  fall,  and  descend  by  broken 
rocks,  and  find  that  the  break  of  the  fall  is 
above  the  break  of  the  wall,  so  that  we  can- 
not land;  and  that  still  below  the  river  is 
very  bad,  and  that  there  is  no  possibihty  of 
a  portage. 

Without  waiting  further  to  examine  and 
determine  what  shall  be  done,  I  hasten  back 
to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  to  stop  the  boats  from 
coming  down.  When  I  arrive,  I  find  the 
men  have  let  one  of  them  down  to  the  head 
of  the  fall.  She  is  in  swift  water,  and  they 
are  not  able  to  pull  her  back;  nor  are  they 


£48   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

able  to  go  on  with  the  line,  as  it  is  not  long 
enough  to  reach  the  higher  part  of  the  cliff, 
which  is  just  before  them;  so  they  take  a 
bight  around  a  crag.  I  send  two  men 
back  for  the  other  line.  The  boat  is  in  very 
swift  water,  and  Bradley  is  standing  in  the 
open  compartment,  holding  out  his  oar  to 
prevent  her  from  striking  against  the  foot  of 
the  cliff.  Now  she  shoots  out  into  the 
stream,  and  up  as  far  as  the  line  will  permit, 
and  then,  wheeling,  drives  headlong  against 
the  rock,  then  out  and  back  again,  now 
straining  on  the  line,  now  striking  against 
the  rock.  As  soon  as  the  second  line  is 
brought,  we  pass  it  down  to  him ;  but  his  at- 
tention is  all  taken  up  with  his  own  situation, 
and  he  does  not  see  that  we  are  passing  the 
line  to  him.  I  stand  on  a  projecting  rock, 
waving  my  hat  to  gain  his  attention,  for  my 
voice  is  drowned  by  the  roaring  of  the  falls. 
Just  at  this  moment,  I  see  him  take  his 
knife  from  its  sheath,  and  step  forward  to 
cut  the  line.  He  has  evidently  decided  that 
it  is  better  to  go  over  with  the  boat  as  it  is, 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    249 

than  to  wait  for  her  to  be  broken  to  pieces. 
As  he  leans  over,  the  boat  sheers  again  into 
the  stream,  the  stem-post  breaks  away,  and 
she  is  loose.  With  perfect  composure  Brad- 
ley seizes  the  great  scull  oar,  places  it  in  the 
stern  rowlock,  and  pulls  with  all  his  power 
(and  he  is  an  athlete)  to  turn  the  bow  of 
the  boat  down  stream,  for  he  wishes  to  go 
bow  down,  rather  than  to  drift  broadside  on. 
One,  two  strokes  he  makes,  and  a  third  just 
as  she  goes  over,  and  the  boat  is  fairly  turned, 
and  she  goes  down  almost  beyond  our  sight, 
though  we  are  more  than  a  hundred  feet 
above  the  river.  Then  she  comes  up  again, 
on  a  great  wave,  and  down  and  up,  then 
around  behind  some  great  rocks,  and  is  lost 
in  the  mad,  white  foam  below.  We  stand 
frozen  with  fear,  for  we  see  no  boat.  Brad- 
ley is  gone,  so  it  seems.  But  now,  away  be- 
low, we  see  something  coming  out  of  the 
waves.  It  is  evidently  a  boat.  A  moment 
more,  and  we  see  Bradley  standing  on  deck, 
swinging  his  hat  to  show  that  he  is  all  right. 
But  he  is  in  a  whirlpool.     We  have  the  stem- 


250   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

post  of  his  boat  attached  to  the  line.  How 
badly  she  may  be  disabled  we  know  not. 

I  direct  Sumner  and  Powell  to  pass  along 
the  cliff,  and  see  if  they  can  reach  him  from 
below.  Rhodes,  Hall,  and  myself  run  to 
the  other  boat,  jump  aboard,  push  out,  and 
away  we  go  over  the  falls.  A  wave  rolls 
over  us,  and  our  boat  is  unmanageable.  An- 
other great  wave  strikes  us,  the  boat  rolls 
over,  and  tumbles  and  tosses,  I  know  not 
how.  All  I  know  is  that  Bradley  is  picking 
us  up.  We  soon  have  all  right  again,  and 
row  to  the  cliff,  and  wait  xmtil  Sumner  and 
Powell  can  come.  After  a  difficult  climb 
they  reach  us.  We  run  two  or  three  miles 
farther,  and  turn  again  to  the  northwest,  con- 
tinuing until  night,  when  we  have  run  out  of 
the  granite  once  more. 

August  29. — ^We  start  very  early  this 
morning.  The  river  still  continues  swift, 
but  we  have  no  serious  difficulty,  and  at 
twelve  o'clock  emerge  from  the  Grand 
Canon  of  the  Colorado. 

We  are  in  a  valley  now,  and  low  moun- 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    251 

tains  are  seen  in  the  distance,  coming  to  the 
river  below.  We  recognize  this  as  the 
Grand  Wash. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  party  of  Mormons  set 
out  from  St.  George,  Utah,  taking  with  them 
a  boat,  and  came  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Grand  Wash,  where  they  divided,  a  portion 
of  the  party  crossing  the  river  to  explore  the 
San  Francisco  Mountains.  Three  men — 
Hambhn,  Miller,  and  Crosby — taking  the 
boat,  went  on  down  the  river  to  Callville, 
landing  a  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Rio  Virgen.  We  have  their  manuscript 
journal  with  us,  and  so  the  stream  is  compar- 
atively well  known. 

To-night  we  camp  on  the  left  bank,  in  a 
mesquite  thicket. 

The  relief  from  danger,  and  the  joy  of  suc- 
cess, are  great.  When  he  who  has  been 
chained  by  wounds  to  a  hospital  cot,  until  his 
canvas  tent  seems  like  a  dungeon  cell,  until 
the  groans  of  those  who  lie  about,  tortured 
with  probe  and  knife,  are  piled  up,  a  weight 
of  horror  on  his  ears  that  he  cannot  throw 


252      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

off,  cannot  forget,  and  until  the  stench  of 
festering  wounds  and  anassthetic  drugs  has 
filled  the  air  with  its  loathsome  burthen,  at 
last  goes  out  into  the  open  field,  what  a  world 
he  sees !  How  beautiful  the  sky ;  how  bright 
the  sunshine;  what  "floods  of  delirious 
music"  pour  from  the  throats  of  birds;  how 
sweet  the  fragrance  of  earth,  and  tree,  and 
blossom!  The  first  hour  of  convalescent 
freedom  seems  rich  recompense  for  all — pain, 
gloom,  terror. 

Something  like  this  are  the  feelings  we  ex- 
perience to-night.  Ever  before  us  has  been 
an  unknown  danger,  heavier  than  immediate 
peril.  Every  waking  hour  passed  in  the 
Grand  Canon  has  been  one  of  toil.  We  have 
watched  with  deep  solicitude  the  steady  dis- 
appearance of  our  scant  supply  of  rations, 
and  from  time  to  time  have  seen  the  river 
snatch  a  portion  of  the  little  left,  while  we 
were  ahungered.  And  danger  and  toil  were 
endured  in  those  gloomy  depths,  where  oft- 
times  the  clouds  hid  the  sky  by  day,  and  but 
a  narrow  zone  of  stars  could  be  seen  at  night. 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO  ^53 

Only  during  the  few  hours  of  deep  sleep, 
consequent  on  hard  labor,  has  the  roar  of  the 
waters  been  hushed.  Now  the  danger  is 
over ;  now  the  toil  has  ceased ;  now  the  gloom 
has  disappeared;  now  the  firmament  is 
bounded  only  by  the  horizon;  and  what 
a  vast  expanse  of  constellations  can  be 
seen! 

The  river  rolls  by  us  in  silent  majesty;  the 
quiet  of  the  camp  is  sweet;  our  joy  is  almost 
ecstasy.  We  sit  till  long  after  midnight, 
talking  of  the  Grand  Canon,  talking  of  home, 
but  chiefly  talking  of  the  three  men  who  left 
us.  Are  they  wandering  in  those  depths, 
unable  to  find  a  way  out?  are  they  searching 
over  the  desert  lands  above  for  water?  or  are 
they  nearing  the  settlements? 

August  30. — We  run  through  two  or  three 
short,  low  canons  to-day,  and  on  emerging 
from  one,  we  discover  a  band  of  Indians  in 
the  valley  below.  They  see  us,  and  scamper 
away  in  most  eager  haste,  to  hide  among  the 
rocks.  Although  we  land,  and  call  for  them 
to  return,  not  an  Indian  can  be  seen. 


254      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Two  or  three  miles  farther  down,  in  turn- 
ing a  short  bend  in  the  river,  we  come  upon 
another  camp.  So  near  are  we  before  they 
can  see  us  that  I  can  shout  to  them,  and, 
being  able  to  speak  a  little  of  their  language, 
I  tell  them  we  are  friends ;  but  they  all  flee 
to  the  rocks,  except  a  man,  a  woman,  and 
two  children.  We  land,  and  talk  with  them. 
They  are  without  lodges,  but  have  built  little 
shelters  of  boughs,  under  which  they  wallow 
in  the  sand.  (The  man  is  dressed  in  a  hat; 
the  woman  in  a  string  of  beads  only.^  At 
first  they  are  evidently  much  terrified;  but 
when  I  talk  to  them  in  their  own  language, 
and  tell  them  we  are  friends,  and  inquire 
after  people  in  the  Mormon  towns,  they  are 
soon  reassured,  and  beg  for  tobacco.  Of  this 
precious  article  we  have  none  to  spare.  Sum- 
ner looks  around  in  the  boat  for  something 
to  give  them,  and  finds  a  little  piece  of  col- 
ored soap,  which  they  receive  as  a  valuable 
present,  rather  as  a  thing  of  beauty  than  as 
a  useful  commodity,  however.  They  are 
either  unwilling  or  unable  to  tell  us  anything 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    255 

about  the  Indians  or  white  people,  and  so  we 
push  off,  for  we  must  lose  no  time. 

We  camp  at  noon  under  the  right  bank. 
And  now,  as  we  push  out,  we  are  in  great 
expectancy,  for  we  hope  every  minute  to  dis- 
cover the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Virgen. 

Soon  one  of  the  men  exclaims :  "  Yonder's 
an  Indian  in  the  river,"  Looking  for  a  few 
minutes,  we  certainly  do  see  two  or  three  per- 
sons. The  men  bend  to  their  oars,  and  pull 
toward  them.  Approaching,  we  see  that 
there  are  three  white  men  and  an  Indian 
hauling  a  seine,  and  then  we  discover  that  it 
is  just  at  the  mouth  of  the  long  sought  river. 

As  we  come  near,  the  men  seem  far  less 
surprised  to  see  us  than  we  do  to  see  them. 
They  evidently  know  who  we  are,  and,  on 
talking  with  them,  they  tell  us  that  we  have 
been  reported  lost  long  ago,  and  that  some 
weeks  before,  a  messenger  had  been  sent 
from  Salt  Lake  City,  with  instructions  for 
them  to  watch  for  any  fragments  or  relics 
of  our  party  that  might  drift  down  the 
stream. 


256      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

Our  new  found  friends,  Mr.  Asa  and  his 
two  sons,  tell  us  that  they  are  pioneers  of  a 
town  that  is  to  be  built  on  the  bank. 

Eighteen  or  twenty  miles  up  the  valley  of 
the  Rio  Virgen  there  are  two  Mormon 
towns,  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Thomas.  To- 
night we  dispatch  an  Indian  to  the  last  men- 
tioned place,  to  bring  any  letters  that  may 
be  there  for  us. 

Our  arrival  here  is  very  opportune. 
When  we  look  over  our  store  of  supplies,  we 
find  about  ten  pounds  of  flour,  fifteen  pounds 
of  dried  apples,  but  seventy  or  eighty  pounds 
of  coffee. 

August  31. — This  afternoon  the  Indian 
returns  with  a  letter,  informing  us  that 
Bishop  Leithhead,  of  St.  Thomas,  and  two 
or  three  other  Mormons  are  coming  down 
with  a  wagon,  bringing  us  supplies.  They 
arrive  about  sundown.  Mr.  Asa  treats  us 
with  great  kindness,  to  the  extent  of  his  abil- 
ity; but  Bishop  Leithhead  brings  in  his 
wagon  two  or  three  dozen  melons,  and  many 


GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  COLORADO    257 

other  little  luxuries,  and  we  are  comfortable 
once  more. 

September  1. — This  morning  Sumner, 
Bradley,  Hawkins,  and  Hall,  taking  on  a 
small  supply  of  rations,  start  down  the  Col- 
orado with  the  boats.  It  is  their  intention 
to  go  to  Fort  Mojave,  and  perhaps  from 
there  overland  to  Los  Angeles. 

Captain  Powell  and  myself  return  with 
Bishop  Leithhead  to  St.  Thomas.  From 
St.  Thomas  we  go  to  Salt  Lake  City. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  RIO  VIRGEN  AND  THE  U-IN-KA-RET 
MOUNTAINS  * 

WE  have  determined  to  con- 
tinue the  exploration  of  the 
canons  of  the  Colorado.  Our 
last  trip  was  so  hurried,  owing  to  the  loss 
of  rations,  and  the  scientific  instruments 
were  so  badly  injured,  that  we  are  not  satis- 
fied with  the  results  obtained,  so  we  shall 
once  more  attempt  to  pass  through  the 
canons  in  boats,  devoting  two  or  three  years 
to  the  trip. 

It  will  not  be  possible  to  carry  in  the  boats 
sufficient  supplies  for  the  party  for  that 
length  of  time,  so  it  is  thought  best  to  es- 
tablish depots  of  supplies,  at  intervals  of  one 
or  two  hundred  miles  along  the  river. 

*Here  the  story  is  continued  in  September  of  the  fol- 
lowing ye&r^  1870.     (Ed.) 

258 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^69 

Between  Gunnison's  Crossing  and  the  foot 
of  the  Grand  Canon,  we  know  of  only  two 
points  where  the  river  can  be  reached — one 
at  the  Crossing  of  the  Fathers,  and  another  a 
few  miles  below,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Paria, 
on  a  route  which  has  been  explored  by  Jacob 
Hamblin,  a  Mormon  missionary.  These 
two  points  are  so  near  each  other  that  only 
one  of  them  can  be  selected  for  the  purpose 
above  mentioned,  and  others  must  be  found. 
We  have  been  unable,  up  to  this  time,  to  ob- 
tain, either  from  Indians  or  white  men,  any 
information  which  will  give  us  a  clue  to  any 
other  trail  to  the  river. 

At  the  head  waters  of  the  Sevier,  we  are 
on  the  summit  of  a  great  water-shed.  The 
Sevier  itself  flows  north,  and  then  westward, 
into  the  lake  of  the  same  name.  The  Rio 
Virgen,  heading  near  by,  flows  to  the  south- 
west, into  the  Colorado,  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  below  the  Grand  Canon.  The  Kanab, 
also  heading  near  by,  runs  directly  south, 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  Grand  Canon. 
The  Paria,  also  heading  near  by,  runs  a  lit- 


260      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

tie  south  of  east,  and  enters  the  river  at  the 
head  of  Marble  Canon.  To  the  northeast 
from  this  point,  other  streams,  which  run 
into  the  Colorado,  have  their  sources,  until, 
forty  or  fifty  miles  away,  we  reach  the  south- 
ern branches  of  the  Dirty  Devil  River,  the 
mouth  of  which  stream  is  but  a  short  dis- 
tance below  the  junction  of  the  Grand  and 
Green. 

The  Pouns-a'-gunt  Plateau  terminates  in 
a  point,  which  is  bounded  by  a  line  of  beauti- 
ful pink  chffs.  At  the  foot  of  this  plateau, 
on  the  west,  the  Rio  Virgen  and  Sevier 
Rivers  are  dovetailed  together,  as  their  mi- 
nute upper  branches  interlock.  The  upper 
surface  of  the  plateau  inclines  to  the  north- 
east, so  that  its  waters  roll  off  into  the  Sevier; 
but  from  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  quite  around 
the  sharp  angle  of  the  plateau,  for  a  dozen 
miles,  we  find  numerous  springs,  whose  wa- 
ters unite  to  form  the  Kanab.  But  a  httle 
farther  to  the  northeast  the  springs  gather 
into  streams  that  feed  the  Paria. 

Here,  by  the  upper  springs  of  the  Kanab, 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  261 

,we  make  a  camp,  and  from  this  point  we  are 
to  radiate  on  a  series  of  trips,  southwest, 
south,  and  east. 

Jacob  Hamblin,  who  Has  been  a  mission- 
ary among  the  Indians  for  more  than  twenty- 
years,  has  collected  a  number  of  Kai^-vav-its, 
vnih.  Chu-af-ru'Um-peak,  their  chief,  and 
they  are  all  camped  with  us.  They  assure 
us  that  we  cannot  reach  the  river;  that  we 
cannot  make  our  way  into  the  depths  of  the 
canon,  but  promise  to  show  us  the  springs 
and  water  pockets,  which  are  very  scarce  in 
all  this  region,  and  to  give  us  all  the  infor- 
mation in  their  power. 

Here  we  fit  up  a  pack  train,  for  our  bed- 
ding and  instruments,  and  supplies  are  to  be 
carried  on  the  backs  of  mules  and  ponies, 

September  5, 1870. — The  several  members 
of  the  party  are  engaged  in  general  prepara- 
tion for  our  trip  down  to  the  Grand  Canon. 

Taking  with  me  a  white  man  and  an  In- 
dian, I  start  on  a  climb  to  the  summit  of  the 
Pouns-a'-gunt  Plateau,  which  rises  above  us 
on  the  east.     Our  way,  for  a  mile  or  more,  is 


^62      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

over  a  great  peat  bog,  that  trembles  under 
our  feet,  and  now  and  then  a  mule  sinks 
through  the  broken  turf,  and  we  are  com- 
pelled to  pull  it  out  with  ropes. 

Passing  the  bog,  our  way  is  up  a  gulch, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Pink  Cliffs,  which  form  the 
escarpment,  or  wall,  of  the  great  plateau. 
Soon  we  leave  the  gulch,  and  climb  a  long 
ridge,  which  winds  around  to  the  right  to- 
ward the  summit  of  the  great  table. 

Two  hours'  riding,  climbing,  and  clamber- 
ing brings  us  near  the  top.  We  look  below, 
and  see  clouds  drifting  up  from  the  south, 
and  rolling  tumultuously  toward  the  foot  of 
the  chffs,  beneath  us.  Soon,  all  the  country 
below  is  covered  with  a  sea  of  vapor — a  bil- 
lowy, raging,  noiseless  sea — and  as  the 
vapory  flood  still  rolls  up  from  the  south, 
great  waves  dash  against  the  foot  of  the 
cliffs  and  roll  back;  another  tide  comes  in, 
is  hurled  back,  and  another  and  another, 
lashing  the  cliffs  until  the  fog  rises  to  the 
summit,  and  covers  us  all. 

There  is  a  heavy  pine  and  fir  forest  above. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  263 

ibeset  with  dead  and  fallen  timber,  and  we 
make  our  way  through  the  undergrowth  to 
the  east. 

It  rains!  The  clouds  discharge  their 
moisture  in  torrents,  and  we  make  for  our- 
selves shelters  of  boughs,  which  are  soon 
abandoned,  and  we  stand  shivering  by  a 
great  fire  of  pine  logs  and  boughs,  which  we 
have  kindled,  but  which  the  pelting  storm 
half  extinguishes. 

One,  two,  three,  four  hours  of  the  storm, 
and  at  last  it  partially  abates. 

During  this  time  our  animals,  which  we 
have  turned  loose,  have  sought  for  themselves 
shelter  under  the  trees,  and  two  of  them  have 
wandered  away  beyond  om'  sight.  I  go  out 
to  follow  their  tracks,  and  come  near  to  the 
brink  of  a  ledge  of  rocks,  which,  in  the  fog 
and  mist,  I  suppose  to  be  a  little  ridge,  and 
I  look  for  a  way  by  which  I  can  go  down. 
Standing  just  here,  there  is  a  rift  made  in 
the  fog  below,  by  some  current  or  blast  of 
wind,  which  reveals  an  almost  bottomless 
abyss.     I  look  from  the  brink  of  a  great 


S64f      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

precipice  of  more  than  two  thousand  feet; 
but,  through  the  mist,  the  forms  below  are 
half  obscured,  and  all  reckoning  of  distance 
is  lost,  and  it  seems  ten  thousand  feet,  ten 
miles — any  distance  the  imagination  desires 
to  make  it. 

Catching  our  animals,  we  return  to  the 
camp.  We  find  that  the  little  streams  which 
come  down  from  the  plateau  are  greatly 
swollen,  but  at  camp  they  have  had  no  rain. 
The  clouds  which  drifted  up  from  the  south, 
striking  against  the  plateau,  were  lifted  up 
into  colder  regions,  and  discharged  their 
moisture  on  the  summit,  and  against  the 
sides  of  the  plateau,  but  there  was  no  rain  in 
the  valley  below. 

September  9. — ^We  make  a  fair  start  this 
morning,  from  the  beautiful  meadow  at  the 
head  of  the  Kanab,  and  cross  the  Une  of  lit- 
tle hills  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Rio  Vir- 
gen,  and  pass,  to  the  south,  a  pretty  valley, 
and  at  ten  o'clock  come  to  the  brink  of  a 
great  geographic  bench — a  line  of  cliffs. 
Behind  us  are  cool  springs,  green  meadows, 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  265 

and  forest  clad  slopes;  below  us,  stretching 
to  the  south,  until  the  world  is  lost  in  blue 
haze,  is  a  painted  desert;  not  a  desert  plain, 
but  a  desert  of  rocks,  cut  by  deep  gorges, 
and  relieved  by  towering  cliffs  and  pinnacled 
rocks — naked  rocks,  brilliant  in  the  sun- 
hght. 

By  a  dijfficult  trail,  we  make  our  way  down 
the  basaltic  ledge,  through  which  innumer- 
able streams  here  gather  into  a  httle  river, 
running  in  a  deep  canon.  The  river  runs 
close  to  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  on  the  right 
hand  side,  and  the  trail  passes  along  to  the 
right.  At  noon  we  rest,  and  our  animals 
feed  on  luxuriant  grass. 

Again  we  start,  and  make  slow  progress 
along  a  stony  way.  At  night  we  camp  un- 
der an  overarching  cliff. 

September  10. — Here  the  river  turns  to 
the  west,  and  our  way,  properly,  is  to  the 
south;  but  we  wish  to  explore  the  Rio  Vir- 
gen  as  far  as  possible.  The  Indians  tell  us 
that  the  canon  narrows  gradually,  a  few 
miles  below,  and  that  it  will  be  impossible  to 


^66      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

take  our  animals  much  farther  down  the 
river.  Early  in  the  morning,  I  go  down  to 
examine  the  head  of  this  narrow  part.  After 
breakfast,  having  concluded  to  explore  the 
canon  for  a  few  miles  on  foot,  we  arrange 
that  the  main  party  shall  climb  the  cliff,  and 
go  around  to  a  point  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  below,  where,  the  Indians  say,  the  ani- 
mals can  be  taken  down  by  the  river,  and 
three  of  us  set  out  on  foot. 

The  Indian  name  of  the  canon  is  Pa-ru^- 
nU'Weap^  or  Roaring  Water  Canon.  Be- 
tween the  little  river  and  the  foot  of  the 
walls,  is  a  dense  growth  of  willows,  vines,  and 
wild  rose  bushes,  and,  with  great  difficulty, 
we  make  our  way  through  this  tangled  mass. 
It  is  not  a  wide  stream — only  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  across  in  most  places;  shallow, 
but  very  swift.  After  spending  some  hours 
in  breaking  our  way  through  the  mass  of 
vegetation,  and  climbing  rocks  here  and 
there,  it  is  determined  to  wade  along  the 
stream.  In  some  places  this  is  an  easy  task, 
but  here  and  there  we  come  to  deep  holes, 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  «6T 

where  we  have  to  wade  to  our  arm  pits. 
Soon  we  come  to  places  so  narrow  that  the 
river  fills  the  entire  channel,  and  we  wade 
perforce.  In  many  places  the  bottom  is  a 
quicksand,  into  which  we  sink,  and  it  is  with 
great  difficulty  that  we  make  progress.  In 
some  places  the  holes  are  so  deep  that  we 
have  to  swim,  and  our  little  bundles  of 
blankets  and  rations  are  fixed  to  a  raft  made 
of  driftwood,  and  pushed  before  us.  Now 
and  then  there  is  a  little  flood-plain,  on  which 
we  can  walk,  and  we  cross  and  recross  the 
stream,  and  wade  along  the  channel  where 
the  water  is  so  swift  as  to  almost  carry  us 
off  our  feet,  and  we  are  in  danger  every  mo- 
ment of  being  swept  down,  until  night  comes 
on.  We  estimate  we  have  traveled  eight 
miles  to-day.  We  find  a  little  patch  of 
flood-plain,  on  which  there  is  a  huge  pile  of 
driftwood  and  a  clump  of  box-elders,  and 
near  by  a  great  stream,  which  bursts  from  the 
rocks — a  mammoth  spring. 

We  soon  have  a  huge  fire,  our  clothes  are 
spread  to  dry,  we  make  a  cup  of  coffee,  take 


^68      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

out  our  bread  and  cheese  and  dried  beef,  and 
enjoy  a  hearty  supper. 

The  canon  here  is  about  twelve  hundred 
feet  deep.  It  has  been  very  narrow  and 
winding  all  the  way  down  to  this  point. 

September  11. — Wading  again  this  morn-  * 
ing;  sinking  in  the  quicksand,  svrimming  the 
deep  waters,  and  making  slow  and  painful 
progress  where  the  waters  are  swift,  and  the 
bed  of  the  stream  rocky. 

The  canon  is  steadily  becoming  deeper, 
and,  in  many  places,  very  narrow — only 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  wide  below,  and  in  some 
places  no  wider,  and  even  narrower,  for  hun- 
dreds of  feet  overhead.  There  are  places 
where  the  river,  in  sweeping  by  curves,  has 
cut  far  under  the  rocks,  but  still  preserving 
its  narrow  channel,  so  that  there  is  an  over- 
hanging wall  on  one  side  and  an  inclined  wall 
on  the  other.  In  places  a  few  hundred  feet 
above,  it  becomes  vertical  again,  and  thus 
the  view  of  the  sky  is  entirely  closed.  Every- 
where this  deep  passage  is  dark  and  gloomy, 
and  resoimds  with  the  noise  of  rapid  waters. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^69 

At  noon  we  are  in  a  canon  2,500  feet  deep, 
and  we  come  to  a  fall  where  the  walls  are 
broken  down,  and  huge  rocks  beset  the  chan- 
nel, on  which  we  obtain  a  foothold  to  reach 
a  level  two  hundred  feet  below.  Here  the 
canon  is  again  wider,  and  we  find  a  flood- 
plain,  along  which  we  can  walk,  now  on  this, 
and  now  on  that  side  of  the  stream.  Grad- 
ually the  canon  widens;  steep  rapids,  cas- 
cades, and  cataracts  are  found  along  the 
river,  but  we  wade  only  when  it  is  necessary 
to  cross.  We  make  progress  with  very  great 
labor,  having  to  climb  over  piles  of  broken 
rocks. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  we  come  to  a  little 
clearing  in  the  valley,  and  see  other  signs  of 
civilization,  and  by  sundown  arrive  at  the 
Mormon  town  of  Schunesburg;  and  here  we 
meet  the  train,  and  feast  on  melons  and 
grapes. 

September  12. — Our  course,  for  the  last 
two  days,  through  Pa-ru^-nu-weap  Canon, 
was  directly  to  the  west.  Another  stream 
comes  down  from  the  north,  and  unites  just 


270      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

here  at  Schunesburg  with  the  main  branch 
of  the  Rio  Virgen.  We  determine  to  spend 
a  day  in  the  exploration  of  this  stream.  The 
Indians  call  the  canon,  through  which  it  rmis, 
Mu'hoon^'tU'Weap,  or  Straight  Canon.  En- 
tering this,  we  have  to  wade  up  stream ;  often 
the  water  fills  the  entire  channel,  and,  al- 
though we  travel  many  miles,  we  find  no 
flood-plain,  talus,  or  broken  piles  of  rock  at 
the  foot  of  the  cliff.  The  walls  have  smooth, 
plain  faces,  and  are  everywhere  very  regu- 
lar and  vertical  for  a  thousand  feet  or  more, 
where  they  seem  to  break  b^,ck  in  shelving 
slopes  to  higher  altitudes;  and  everywhere, 
as  we  go  along,  we  find  springs  bursting  out 
at  the  foot  of  the  walls,  and,  passing  these, 
the  river  above  becomes  steadily  smaller ;  the 
great  body  of  water,  which  runs  below,  bursts 
out  from  beneath  this  great  bed  of  red  sand- 
stone ;  as  we  go  up  the  canon,  it  comes  to  be 
but  a  creek,  and  then  a  brook.  On  the  west- 
ern wall  of  the  canon  stand  some  buttes,  tow- 
ers, and  high  pinnacled  rocks.  Going  up 
the  canon,  we  gain  glimpses  of  them,  here 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^71 

and  there.  Last  summer,  after  our  trip 
through  the  canons  of  the  Colorado,  on  our 
way  from  the  mouth  of  the  Virgen  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  these  were  seen  as  conspicuous 
landmarks,  from  a  distance,  away  to  the 
southwest,  of  sixty  or  seventy  miles.  These 
tower  rocks  are  known  as  the  Temples  of  the 
Virgen. 

Having  explored  this  canon  nearly  to  its 
head,  we  return  to  Schunesburg,  arriving 
quite  late  at  night. 

Sitting  in  camp  this  evening,  Chu-ar^-rU' 
um-peakj,  the  chief  of  the  KaV-vav-itSj  who 
is  one  of  our  party,  tells  us  there  is  a  tradi- 
tion among  the  tribes  of  this  country,  that 
many  years  ago  a  great  light  was  seen  some- 
where in  this  region  by  the  Pa-ru^-sha-pats^ 
who  lived  to  the  southwest,  and  that  they 
supposed  it  to  be  a  signal,  kindled  to  warn 
them  of  the  approach  of  the  Navajos,  who 
live  beyond  the  Colorado  River  to  the  east. 
Then  other  signal  fires  were  kindled  on  the 
Pine  Valley  Mountain,  Santa  Clara  Moun- 
tains, and  U-in-ka-ret  Mountains,  so  that  all 


n%      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

the  tribes  of  Northern  Arizona,  Southern 
Utah,  Southern  Nevada,  and  Southern  CaU- 
f ornia  were  warned  of  the  approaching  dan- 
ger; but  when  the  Pa-ru^sha-pats  came 
nearer,  they  discovered  that  it  was  a  fire  on 
one  of  the  great  Temples;  and  then  they 
knew  that  the  fire  was  not  kindled  by  men, 
for  no  human  being  could  scale  the  rocks. 
The  Tu'-mu-ur-ru-gwaif-si-gaip,  or  Rock 
Rovers,  had  kindled  a  fire  to  deceive  the  peo- 
ple. In  the  Indian  language  this  is  called 
Tu^-mu-ur-ru-gwaif-si-gaip  Tu-weap',  or 
Rock  Rovers'  Land. 

September  13. — ^We  start  very  early  this 
morning,  for  we  have  a  long  day's  travel  be- 
fore us.  Our  way  is  across  the  Rio  Virgen  to 
the  south.  Coming  to  the  bank  of  the  stream 
here,  we  find  a  strange  metamorphosis.  The 
streams  we  have  seen  above,  running  in 
narrow  channels,  leaping  and  plunging  over 
the  rocks,  raging  and  roaring  in  their  course, 
are  here  united,  and  spread  in  a  thin  sheet 
several  hundred  yards  wide,  and  only  a  few 
inches  deep,  but  running  over  a  bed  of  quick- 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  273 

sand.  Crossing  the  stream,  our  trail  leads 
up  a  narrow  canon,  not  very  deep,  and  then 
among  the  hills  of  golden,  red,  and  purple 
shales  and  marls.  Climbing  out  of  the  val- 
ley of  the  Rio  Virgen,  we  pass  through  a  for- 
est of  dwarf  cedars,  and  come  out  at  the  foot 
of  the  Vermilion  CHffs.  All  day  we  follow 
this  Indian  trail  toward  the  east,  and  at  night 
camp  at  a  great  spring,  known  to  the  Indians 
as  Yellow  Rock  Spring,  but  to  the  Mormons 
as  Pipe  Spring;  and  near  by  there  is  a  cabin 
in  which  some  Mormon  herders  find  shelter. 
Pipe  Spring  is  a  point  just  across  the  Utah 
line  in  Arizona,  and  we  suppose  it  to  be  about 
sixty  miles  from  the  river.  Here  the  Mor- 
mons design  to  build  a  fort  another  year,  as 
an  outpost  for  protection  against  the  In- 
dians. 

Here  we  discharge  a  number  of  the  In- 
dians, but  take  two  with  us  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  us  the  springs,  for  they  are  very 
scarce,  very  small,  and  not  easily  found. 
Half  a  dozen  are  not  known  in  a  district  of 
country  large  enough  to  make  as  many  good 


S74   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

sized  counties  in  Illinois.  There  are  no  run- 
ning streams,  and  these  springs  and  water- 
pockets — that  is,  holes  in  the  rocks,  which 
hold  water  from  shower  to  shower — are  our 
only  dependence  for  this  element. 

Starting,  we  leave  behind  a  long  line  of 
cliffs,  many  hundred  feet  high,  composed  of 
orange  and  vermilion  sandstones.  I  have 
named  them  "Vermilion  Cliffs."  When  we 
are  out  a  few  miles,  I  look  back,  and  see  the 
morning  sun  shining  in  splendor  on  their 
painted  faces ;  the  salient  angles  are  on  fire, 
and  the  retreating  angles  are  buried  in  shade, 
and  I  gaze  on  them  until  my  vision  dreams, 
and  the  chffs  appear  a  long  bank  of  purple 
clouds,  piled  from  the  horizon  high  into  the 
heavens.  At  noon  we  pass  along  a  ledge  of 
chocolate  chffs,  and,  taking  out  our  sand- 
wiches, we  make  a  dinner  as  we  ride  along. 

Yesterday,  our  Indians  discussed  for 
hours  the  route  which  we  should  take.  There 
is  one  way,  farther  by  ten  or  twelve  miles, 
with  sure  water;  another  shorter,  where  wa- 
ter is  found  sometimes ;  their  conclusion  was 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  275 

that  water  would  be  found  now;  and  this  is 
the  way  we  go,  yet  all  day  long  we  are  anx- 
ious about  it.  To  be  out  two  days,  with  only 
the  water  that  can  be  carried  in  two  small 
kegs,  is  to  have  our  animals  suffer  greatly. 
At  five  o'clock  we  come  to  the  spot,  and 
there  is  a  huge  water-pocket,  containing  sev- 
eral barrels.  What  a  rehef!  Here  we 
camp  for  the  night. 

September  15. — Up  at  day-break,  for  it  is 
a  long  day's  march  to  the  next  water.  They 
say  we  must  "run  very  hard"  to  reach  it  by 
dark. 

Our  course  is  to  the  south.  From  Pipe 
Spring  we  can  see  a  mountain,  and  I  recog- 
nize it  as  the  one  seen  last  summer  from  a 
cliff  overlooking  the  Grand  Canon;  and  I 
wish  to  reach  the  river  just  behind  the  moun- 
tain. There  are  Indians  living  in  the  group, 
of  which  it  is  the  highest,  whom  I  wish  to 
visit  on  the  way.  These  mountains  are  of 
volcanic  origin,  and  we  soon  come  to  ground 
that  is  covered  with  fragments  of  lava.  The 
way  becomes  very  difficult.     We  have  to 


276   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

cross  deep  ravines,  the  heads  of  canons  that 
run  into  the  Grand  Canon.  It  is  curious 
now  to  observe  the  knowledge  of  our  Indians. 
There  is  not  a  trail  but  what  they  know; 
every  gulch  and  every  rock  seems  familiar. 
I  have  prided  myself  on  being  able  to  grasp 
and  retain  in  my  mind  the  topography  of  a 
country;  but  these  Indians  put  me  to  shame. 
My  knowledge  is  only  general,  embracing 
the  more  important  features  of  a  region  that 
remains  as  a  map  engraved  on  my  mind;  but 
theirs  is  particular.  They  know  every  rock 
and  every  ledge,  every  gulch  and  canon,  and 
just  where  to  wind  among  these  to  find  a 
pass ;  and  their  knowledge  is  imerring.  They 
cannot  describe  a  country  to  you,  but  they 
can  tell  you  all  the  particulars  of  a  route. 

I  have  but  one  pony  for  the  two,  and  they 
were  to  ride  "tm-n  about";  but  Chu-ar'-ru- 
um-peak,  the  chief,  rides,  and  Shuts,  the  one- 
eyed,  bare-legged,  merry-faced  pigmy, 
walks,  and  points  the  way  with  a  slender 
cane ;  then  leaps  and  bounds  by  the  shortest 
way,  and  sits  down  on  a  rock  and  waits  de- 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  277 

murely  until  we  come,  always  meeting  us 
with  a  jest,  his  face  a  rich  mine  of  sunny 
smiles. 

At  dusk  we  reach  the  water-pocket.  It  is 
in  a  deep  gorge,  on  the  flank  of  this  great 
mountain.  During  the  rainy  season  the  wa- 
ter rolls  down  the  mountain  side,  plunging 
over  precipices,  and  excavates  a  deep  basin 
in  the  solid  rock  below.  This  basin,  hidden 
from  the  sun,  holds  water  the  year  round. 

September  16. — This  morning,  while  the 
men  are  packing  the  animals,  I  climb  a  little 
mountain  near  camp,  to  obtain  a  view  of  the 
country.  It  is  a  huge  pile  of  volcanic  scoria, 
loose  and  light  as  cinders  from  a  forge,  which 
give  way  under  my  feet,  and  I  climb  w4th 
great  labor;  but  reaching  the  summit,  and 
looking  to  the  southeast,  I  see  once  more  the 
labyrinth  of  deep  gorges  that  flank  the 
Grand  Canon ;  in  the  multitude,  I  cannot  de- 
termine whether  it  be  in  view  or  not.  The 
memories  of  grand  and  awful  months  spent 
in  their  deep,  gloomy  solitudes  come  up,  and 
I  live  that  life  over  again  for  a  time. 


SH6     FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

I  supposed,  before  starting,  that  I  could 
get  a  good  view  of  the  great  mountain  from 
this  point;  but  it  is  Hke  climbing  a  chair  to 
look  at  a  castle.  I  wish  to  discover  some  way 
by  which  it  can  be  ascended,  as  it  is  my  inten- 
tion to  go  to  the  summit  before  I  return  to 
the  settlements.  There  is  a  cliff  near  the 
summit,  and  I  do  not  see  the  way  yet.  Now 
down  I  go,  sliding  on  the  cinders,  making 
them  rattle  and  clang. 

The  Indians  say  we  are  to  have  a  short  ride 
to-day,  and  that  we  will  reach  an  Indian  vil- 
lage, situated  by  a  good  spring.  Our  way 
is  across  the  spurs  that  put  out  from  the 
great  mountain,  as  we  pass  it  to  the  left. 

Up  and  down  we  go,  across  deep  ravines, 
and  the  fragments  of  lava  clank  under  our 
horses'  feet;  now  among  cedars,  now  among 
pines,  and  now  across  mountain  side  glades. 
At  one  o'clock  we  descend  into  a  lovely  val- 
ley, with  a  carpet  of  waving  grass;  some- 
times there  is  a  little  water  in  the  upper  end 
of  it,  and,  during  some  seasons,  the  Indians 
we  wish  to  find  are  encamped  here.      Chu- 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^79 

ar^'ru'urri'pedk  rides  on  to  find  them,  and  to 
say  we  are  friends,  otherwise  they  would  run 
away,  or  propose  to  fight  us,  should  we  come 
without  notice.  Soon  we  see  Chu-ar^-ru-um- 
pedk  riding  at  full  speed,  and  hear  him  shout- 
ing at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  away  in  the 
distance  are  two  Indians,  scampering  up  the 
mountain  side.  One  stops;  the  other  still 
goes  on,  and  is  soon  lost  to  view.  We  ride 
up,  and  find  Chu-af-ru-um-peak  talking 
with  the  one  who  had  stopped.  It  is  one  of 
the  ladies  resident  in  these  mountain  glades ; 
she  is  evidently  paying  taxes,  Godiva  like. 
She  tells  us  that  her  people  are  at  the  spring; 
that  it  is  only  two  hours'  ride;  that  her  good 
master  has  gone  on  to  tell  them  we  are  com- 
ing, and  that  she  is  harvesting  seeds. 

We  sit  down  and  eat  our  luncheon,  and 
share  our  biscuit  with  the  woman  of  the 
mountains ;  then  on  we  go,  over  a  divide  be- 
tween two  rounded  peaks.  I  send  the  party 
on  to  the  village,  and  climb  the  peak  on  the 
left,  riding  my  horse  to  the  upper  limit  of 
trees,  and  then  tugging  up  afoot.     From  this 


280      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

point  I  can  see  the  Grand  Canon,  and  know 
where  I  am.  I  can  see  the  Indian  village, 
too,  in  a  grassy  valley,  embosomed  in  the 
mountains,  the  smoke  curling  up  from  their 
jSres;  my  men  are  turning  out  their  horses, 
and  a  group  of  natives  stand  around.  Down 
the  mountain  I  go,  and  reach  camp  at  sun- 
set. 

After  supper  we  put  some  cedar  boughs 
on  the  fire,  the  dusky  villagers  sit  around, 
and  we  have  a  smoke  and  a  talk.  I  explain 
the  object  of  my  visit,  and  assure  them  of 
my  friendly  intentions.  Then  I  ask  them 
about  a  way  down  into  the  canon.  They  tell 
me  that  years  ago,  a  way  was  discovered  by 
which  parties  could  go  down,  but  that  no  one 
has  attempted  it  for  a  long  time;  that  it  is 
a  very  difficult  and  very  dangerous  under- 
taking to  reach  the  "Big  Water."  Then  I 
inquire  about  the  SM-vwits,  a  tribe  that  lives 
about  the  springs  on  the  mountain  sides  and 
canon  cliffs  to  the  southwest.  They  say  that 
their  village  is  now  about  thirty  miles  away. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  «81 

and  promise  to  send  a  messenger  for  them  to- 
morrow morning. 

Having  finished  our  business  for  the  even- 
ing, I  ask  if  there  is  a  tu-gwi'-na-gunt  in 
camp:  that  is,  if  there  is  any  one  present 
who  is  skilled  in  relating  their  mythology. 
Chu-af-ru-um-peak  says  To-mor^-ro-un-ti' 
kai,  the  chief  of  these  Indians,  is  a  very  noted 
man  for  his  skill  in  this  matter ;  but  they  both 
object,  by  saying  that  the  season  for  tu-gmf- 
nai  has  not  yet  arrived.  But  I  had  antici- 
pated this,  and  soon  some  members  of  the 
party  come  with  pipes  and  tobacco,  a  large 
kettle  of  coffee,  and  a  tray  of  biscuits,  and, 
after  sundry  ceremonies  of  pipe  lighting  and 
smoking,  we  all  feast,  and,  warmed  up  by 
this,  to  them,  unusual  good  living,  it  is  de- 
cided that  the  night  shall  be  spent  in  relating 
mythology.  I  ask  To-mor'-ro-un-ti-kai  to 
tell  us  about  the  So^-kus  Wai'-tm-ats,  or 
One  Two  Boys,  and  to  this  he  agrees. 

The  long  winter  evenings  of  an  Indian 
camp  are  usually  devoted  to  the  relation  of 


^82      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

mythological  stories,  which  purport  to  give 
a  history  of  an  ancient  race  of  animal  gods. 
The  stories  are  usually  told  by  some  old  man, 
assisted  by  others  of  the  party,  who  take  sec- 
ondary parts,  while  the  members  of  the  tribe 
gather  about,  and  make  comments,  or  receive 
impressions  from  the  morals  which  are  en- 
forced by  the  story  teller,  or,  more  properly, 
story  tellers ;  for  the  exercise  partakes  some- 
what of  the  nature  of  a  theatrical  perform- 
ance. 

THE  SO'-KUS  WAl'-UN-ATS. 

Tum-p'wi-nai^'-ro-'g'wi'nump,  he  who  had 
a  stone  shirt,  killed  Si-kor^,  the  Crane,  and 
stole  his  wife,  and  seeing  that  she  had  a  child, 
and  thinking  it  would  be  an  incumbrance  to 
them  on  their  travels,  he  ordered  her  to  kill 
it.  But  the  mother,  loving  the  babe,  hid  it 
under  her  dress,  and  carried  it  away  to  its 
grandmother.  And  Stone  Shirt  carried  his 
captured  bride  to  his  own  land. 

In  a  few  years  the  child  grew  to  be  a  fine 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  285 

lad,  under  the  care  of  his  grandmother,  and 
was  her  companion  wherever  she  went. 

One  day  they  were  digging  flag  roots,  on 
the  margin  of  the  river,  and  putting  them  in 
a  heap  on  the  bank.  When  they  had  been 
at  work  a  little  while,  the  boy  perceived  that 
the  roots  came  up  with  greater  ease  than  was 
customary,  and  he  asked  the  old  woman  the 
cause  of  this,  but  she  did  not  know;  and,  as 
they  continued  their  work,  still  the  reeds 
came  up  with  less  eJff  ort,  at  which  their  won- 
der increased,  until  the  grandmother  said, 
"Surely,  some  strange  thing  is  about  to  tran- 
spire." Then  the  boy  went  to  the  heap, 
where  they  had  been  placing  the  roots,  and 
found  that  some  one  had  taken  them  away, 
and  he  ran  back,  exclaiming,  "Grandmother, 
did  you  take  the  roots  away?"  And  she  an- 
swered, "No,  my  child;  perhaps  some  ghost 
has  taken  them  off;  let  us  dig  no  more;  come 
away."  But  the  boy  was  not  satisfied,  as  he 
greatly  desired  to  know  what  all  this  meant ; 
so  he  searched  about  for  a  time,  and  at  length 


^84      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

found  a  man  sitting  under  a  tree,  whom  he 
taunted  with  being  a  thief,  and  threw  mud 
and  stones  at  him,  until  he  broke  the  stran- 
ger's leg,  who  answered  not  the  boy,  nor  re- 
sented the  injuries  he  received,  but  remained 
silent  and  sorrowful;  and,  when  his  leg  was 
broken,  he  tied  it  up  in  sticks,  and  bathed  it 
in  the  river,  and  sat  down  again  under  the 
tree,  and  beckoned  the  boy  to  approach. 
When  the  lad  came  near,  the  stranger  told 
him  he  had  something  of  great  importance 
to  reveal.  "My  son,"  said  he,  "did  that  old 
woman  ever  tell  you  about  your  father  and 
mother?"  "No,"  answered  the  boy;  "I  have 
never  heard  of  them."  "My  son,  do  you  see 
these  bones  scattered  on  the  ground  ?  Whose 
bones  are  these?"  "How  should  I  know?" 
answered  the  boy.  "  It  may  be  that  some 
elk  or  deer  has  been  killed  here."  "No," 
said  the  old  man.  "Perhaps  they  are  the 
bones  of  a  bear;"  but  the  old  man  shook  his 
head.  So  the  boy  mentioned  many  other 
animals,  but  the  stranger  still  shook  his  head, 
and  finally  said,  "These  are  the  bones  of  your 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  285 

father;  Stone  Shirt  killed  him,  and  left  him 
to  rot  here  on  the  ground,  like  a  wolf."  And 
the  boy  was  filled  with  indignation  against 
the  slayer  of  his  father.  Then  the  stranger 
asked,  "Is  your  mother  in  yonder  lodge?" 
and  the  boy  replied,  "No."  "Does  your 
mother  live  on  the  banks  of  this  river?"  and 
the  boy  answered,  "I  don't  know  my  mother; 
I  have  never  seen  her;  she  is  dead."  "My 
son,"  rephed  the  stranger,  "Stone  Shirt,  who 
killed  your  father,  stole  your  mother,  and 
took  her  away  to  the  shore  of  a  distant  lake, 
and  there  she  is  his  wife  to-day."  And  the 
boy  wept  bitterly,  and  while  the  tears  filled 
his  eyes  so  that  he  could  not  see,  the  stranger 
disappeared.  Then  the  boy  was  filled  with 
wonder  at  what  he  had  seen  and  heard,  and 
malice  grew  in  his  heart  against  his  father's 
enemy.  He  returned  to  the  old  woman,  and 
said,  "Grandmother,  why  have  you  lied  to 
me  about  my  father  and  mother?"  and  she 
answered  not,  for  she  knew  that  a  ghost  had 
told  all  to  the  boy.  And  the  boy  fell  upon 
the  ground  weeping  and  sobbing,  until  he 


286   FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

fell  into  a  deep  sleep,  when  strange  things 
were  told  him. 

His  slumber  continued  three  days  and 
three  nights,  and  when  he  awoke,  he  said  to 
his  grandmother:  "I  am  going  away  to  en- 
list all  nations  in  my  fight ;"  and  straightway 
he  departed. 

(Here  the  boy's  travels  are  related  with 
many  circumstances  concerning  the  way  he 
was  received  by  the  people,  all  given  in  a 
series  of  conversations,  very  lengthy,  so  they 
will  be  omitted.) 

Finally  he  returned  in  advance  of  the  peo- 
ple whom  he  had  enlisted,  bringing  with  him 
Shin-au^-av,  the  wolf,  and  To-go'-av,  the  rat- 
tlesnake. When  the  three  had  eaten  food, 
the  boy  said  to  the  old  woman:  "Grand- 
mother, cut  me  in  two!"  But  she  demurred, 
saying  she  did  not  wish  to  kill  one  whom  she 
loved  so  dearly.  "Cut  me  in  two!"  de- 
manded the  boy ;  and  he  gave  her  a  stone  ax, 
which  he  had  brought  from  a  distant  country, 
and  with  a  manner  of  great  authority  he 
again  commanded  her  to  cut  him  in  two.     So 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  287 

she  stood  before  him,  and  severed  him  in 
twain,  and  fled  in  terror.  And  lo !  each  part 
took  the  form  of  an  entire  man,  and  the  one 
beautiful  boy  appeared  as  two,  and  they 
were  so  much  alike  no  one  could  tell  them 
apart. 

When  the  people  or  natives,  whom  the  boy 
had  enlisted,  came  pouring  into  the  camp, 
Sh^n-au'-av  and  To-go'-av  were  engaged  in 
telling  them  of  the  wonderful  thing  that  had 
happened  to  the  boy,  and  that  now  there 
were  two ;  and  they  all  held  it  to  be  an  augury 
of  a  successful  expedition  to  the  land  of 
Stone  Shirt.  And  they  started  on  their 
journey. 

Now  the  boy  had  been  told  in  the  dream 
of  his  three  days'  slumber,  of  a  magical  cup, 
and  he  had  brought  it  home  with  him  from 
his  journey  among  the  nations,  and  the  So^- 
hus  Wai^-un-ats  carried  it  between  them, 
filled  with  water.  Shin-au^-av  walked  on 
their  right,  and  To-go^-av  on  their  left,  and 
the  nations  followed  in  the  order  in  which 
they  had  been  enlisted.     There  was  a  vast 


288      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

number  of  them,  so  that  when  they  were 
stretched  out  in  line  it  was  one  day's  journey 
from  the  front  to  the  rear  of  the  colunm. 

When  they  had  journeyed  two  days,  and 
were  far  out  on  the  desert,  all  the  people 
thirsted,  for  they  found  no  water,  and  they 
fell  down  upon  the  sand,  groaning,  and  mur- 
muring that  they  had  been  deceived,  and  they 
cursed  the  One-Two. 

But  the  So'-hus  WaV-un-ats  had  been  told 
in  the  wonderful  dream  of  the  suffering 
which  would  be  endured,  and  that  the  water 
which  they  carried  in  the  cup  was  only  to  be 
used  in  dire  necessity;  and  the  brothers  said 
to  each  other:  "Now  the  time  has  come  for 
us  to  drink  the  water."  And  when  one  had 
quaffed  of  the  magical  bowl,  he  found  it  still 
full;  and  he  gave  it  to  the  other  to  drink,  and 
still  it  was  full;  and  the  One-Two  gave  it 
to  the  people,  and  one  after  another  did  they 
all  drink,  and  still  the  cup  was  full  to  the 
brim. 

But  Shin-au'-av  was  dead,  and  all  the 
people  mourned,  for  he  was  a  great  man. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  289 

The  brothers  held  the  cup  over  hiirij  and 
sprinkled  him  with  water,  when  he  arose  and 
said :  "Why  do  you  disturb  me  ?  I  did  have 
a  vision  of  mountain  brooks  and  meadows, 
of  cane  where  honey-dew  was  plenty."  They 
gave  him  the  cup,  and  he  drank  also;  but 
when  he  had  finished  there  was  none  left. 
Refreshed  and  rejoicing  they  proceeded  on 
their  journey. 

The  next  day,  being  without  food,  they 
were  hungry,  and  all  were  about  to  perish; 
and  again  they  murmured  at  the  brothers, 
and  cursed  them.  But  the  So^-kus  Wai'-un- 
ats  saw  in  the  distance  an  antelope,  standing 
on  an  eminence  in  the  plain,  in  bold  relief 
against  the  sky;  and  Shin-au^-av  knew  it  was 
the  wonderful  antelope  with  many  eyes, 
which  Stone  Shirt  kept  for  his  watchman; 
and  he  proposed  to  go  and  kill  it,  but  To- 
gd-av  demurred,  and  said:  "It  were  better 
that  I  should  go,  for  he  will  see  you,  and  run 
away."  But  the  So^-hus  Wai^-un-ats  told 
Shin-au^-av  to  go ;  and  he  started  in  a  direc- 
tion away  to  the  left  of  where  the  antelope 


290      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

was  standing,  that  he  might  make  a  long 
detour  about  some  hills,  and  come  upon  him 
from  the  other  side.  To-go^-av  went  a  lit- 
tle way  from  camp,  and  called  to  the  broth- 
ers: "Do  you  see  me?''  and  they  answered 
they  did  not.  "Hunt  for  me;"  and  while 
they  were  hunting  for  him,  the  rattlesnake 
said:  "I  can  see  you;  you  are  doing" — so 
and  so,  telling  them  what  they  were  doing; 
but  they  could  not  find  him. 

Then  the  rattlesnake  came  forth,  declar- 
ing: "Now  you  know  I  can  see  others,  and 
that  I  cannot  be  seen  when  I  so  desire.  Shin- 
au^-av  cannot  kill  that  antelope,  for  he  has 
many  eyes,  and  is  the  wonderful  watchman 
of  Stone  Shirt;  but  I  can  kill  him,  for  I  can 
go  where  he  is,  and  he  cannot  see  me."  So 
the  brothers  were  convinced,  and  permitted 
him  to  go;  and  he  went  and  killed  the  ante- 
lope. When  Shin-au^-av  saw  it  fall,  he  was 
very  angry,  for  he  was  extremely  proud  of 
his  fame  as  a  hunter,  and  anxious  to  have  the 
honor  of  killing  this  famous  antelope,  and 
he  ran  up  with  the  intention  of  killing  To- 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  «91 

gd-av;  but  when  he  drew  near,  and  saw  the 
antelope  was  fat,  and  would  make  a  rich  feast 
for  the  people,  his  anger  was  appeased. 
"What  matters  it,"  said  he,  "who  kills  the 
game,  when  we  can  all  eat  it?" 

So  all  the  people  were  fed  in  abundance, 
and  they  proceeded  on  their  journey. 

The  next  day  the  people  again  suffered  for 
water,  and  the  magical  cup  was  empty;  but 
the  So^'hus  Wai^'V/n-ats,  having  been  told  in 
their  dream  what  to  do,  transformed  them- 
selves into  doves,  and  flew  away  to  a  lake,  on 
the  margin  of  which  was  the  home  of  Stone 
Shirt. 

Coming  near  to  the  shore,  they  saw  two 
maidens  bathing  in  the  water;  and  the  birds 
stood  and  looked,  for  the  maidens  were  very 
beautiful.  Then  they  flew  into  some  bushes, 
near  by,  to  have  a  nearer  view,  and  were 
caught  in  a  snare  which  the  girls  had  placed 
for  intrusive  birds.  The  beautiful  maidens 
came  up,  and,  taking  the  birds  out  of  the 
snare,  admired  them  very  much,  for  they  had 
never  seen  such  birds  before.     They  carried 


29^      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

them  to  their  father.  Stone  Shirt,  who  said: 
**My  daughters,  I  very  much  fear  these  are 
spies  from  my  enemies,  for  such  birds  do  not 
live  in  our  land ;"  and  he  was  about  to  throw 
them  into  the  fire,  when  the  maidens  besought 
him,  with  tears,  that  he  would  not  destroy 
their  beautiful  birds ;  but  he  yielded  to  their 
entreaties  with  much  misgiving.  Then  they 
took  the  birds  to  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  set 
them  free. 

When  the  birds  were  at  liberty  once  more, 
they  flew  around  among  the  bushes,  until 
they  found  the  magical  cup  which  they  had 
lost,  and  taking  it  up,  they  carried  it  out  into 
the  middle  of  the  lake  and  settled  down  upon 
the  water,  and  the  maidens,  supposed  they 
were  drowned. 

The  birds,  when  they  had  filled  their  cup, 
rose  again,  and  went  back  to  the  people  in 
the  desert,  where  they  arrived  just  at  the 
right  time  to  save  them  with  the  cup  of  water, 
from  which  each  drank;  and  yet  it  was  full 
until  the  last  was  satisfied,  and  then  not  a 
drop  remained. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  293 

The  brothers  reported  that  they  had  seen 
Stone  Shirt  and  his  daughters. 

The  next  day  they  came  near  to  the  home 
of  the  enemy,  and  the  brothers,  in  proper 
person,  went  out  to  reconnoitre.  Seeing  a 
woman  gleaning  seeds,  they  drew  near,  and 
knew  it  was  their  mother,  whom  Stone  Shirt 
had  stolen  from  Si-hof,  the  crane.  They 
told  her  they  were  her  sons,  but  she  denied 
it,  and  said  she  had  never  had  but  one  son; 
but  the  boys  related  to  her  their  history,  with 
the  origin  of  the  two  from  one,  and  she  was 
convinced.  She  tried  to  dissuade  them  from 
making  war  upon  Stone  Shirt,  and  told  them 
that  no  arrow  could  possibly  penetrate  his 
armor,  and  that  he  was  a  great  warrior,  and 
had  no  other  delight  than  in  killing  his  ene- 
mies, and  that  his  daughters  also  were  fur- 
nished with  magical  bows  and  arrows,  which 
they  could  shoot  so  fast  that  the  arrows 
would  fill  the  air  like  a  cloud,  and  that  it  was 
not  necessary  for  them  to  take  aim,  for  their 
missiles  went  where  they  willed ;  they  thought 
the  arrows  to  the  hearts  of  their  enemies ;  and 


^94      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

thus  the  maidens  could  kill  the  whole  of  the 
people  before  a  common  arrow  could  be  shot 
by  a  conmion  person.  But  the  boys  told  her 
what  the  spirit  had  said  in  the  long  dream, 
and  had  promised  that  Stone  Shirt  should 
be  killed.  They  told  her  to  go  down  to  the 
lake  at  dawn,  so  as  not  to  be  endangered  by 
the  battle. 

During  the  night,  the  So^-kus  Wai'-un-ats 
transformed  themselves  into  mice,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  home  of  Stone  Shirt,  and  found 
the  magical  bows  and  arrows  that  belonged 
to  the  maidens,  and  with  their  sharp  teeth 
they  cut  the  sinew  on  the  backs  of  the  bows, 
and  nibbled  the  bow  strings,  so  that  they  were 
worthless ;  while  To-go^-av  hid  himself  under 
a  rock  near  by. 

When  dawn  came  into  the  sky,  Tum-pwi- 
nai^-ro-gwi-nump,  the  Stone  Shirt  man,  arose 
and  walked  out  of  his  tent,  exulting  in  his 
strength  and  security,  and  sat  down  upon 
the  rock  under  which  To-go'-av  was  hiding; 
and  he,  seeing  his  opportunity,  sunk  his  fangs 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  296 

into  the  flesh  of  the  hero.  Stone  Shirt 
sprang  high  into  the  air,  and  called  to  his 
daughters  that  they  were  betrayed,  and  that 
the  enemy  was  near;  and  they  seized  their 
magical  bows,  and  their  quivers  filled  with 
magical  arrows,  and  hurried  to  his  defense. 
At  the  same  time,  all  the  nations  who  were 
surrounding  the  camp  rushed  down  to  bat- 
tle. But  the  beautiful  maidens,  finding  their 
weapons  were  destroyed,  waved  back  their 
enemies,  as  if  they  would  parley ;  and,  stand- 
ing for  a  few  moments  over  the  body  of  their 
slain  father,  sang  the  death  song,  and  danced 
the  death  dance,  whirling  in  giddy  circles 
about  the  dead  hero,  and  wailing  with  de- 
spair, until  they  sank  down  and  expired. 

The  conquerors  buried  the  maidens  by  the 
shores  of  the  lake ;  but  Tum-pwi-nai^-ro-gwi- 
nump  was  left  to  rot,  and  his  bones  to  bleach 
on  the  sands,  as  he  had  left  Si-hof. 

There  is  this  proverb  among  the  Utes: 
*'Do  not  murmur  when  you  suffer  in  doing 
what  the  spirits  have  commanded,  for  a  cup 


296      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

of  water  is  provided."  And  another: 
**What  matters  it  who  kills  the  game,  when 
we  can  all  eat  of  it." 

It  is  long  after  midnight  when  the  per- 
formance is  ended.  The  story  itself  was  in- 
teresting, though  I  had  heard  it  many  times 
before;  but  never,  perhaps,  under  circum- 
stances more  effective.  Stretched  beneath 
tall,  sombre  pines ;  a  great  camp  fire,  and  by 
the  fire,  men,  old,  wrinkled,  and  ugly;  de- 
formed, blear  eyed,  wry  faced  women;  lithe, 
stately  young  men;  pretty  but  simpering 
maidens,  naked  children,  all  intently  listen- 
ing, or  laughing  and  talking  at  times,  their 
strange  faces  and  dusky  forms  lit  up  with  the 
glare  of  the  pine-knot  fire.  All  the  circum- 
stances conspired  to  make  it  a  scene  strange 
and  weird.  One  old  man,  the  sorcerer  or 
medicine-man  of  the  tribe,  peculiarly  im- 
pressed me.  Now  and  then  he  would  inter- 
rupt the  play  for  the  purpose  of  correcting 
the  speakers,  or  impressing  the  moral  of  the 
story  with  a  strange  dignity  and  impressive- 
ness  that  seemed  to  pass  to  the  very  border 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^97 

of  the  ludicrous ;  yet  at  no  time  did  it  make 
me  smile. 

The  story  is  finished,  but  there  is  yet  time 
for  an  hour  or  two's  sleep.  I  take  Chu-ar^- 
ru-um-peak  to  one  side  for  a  talk.  The 
three  men  who  left  us  in  the  canon  last  year 
found  their  way  up  the  lateral  gorge,  by 
which  they  went  into  the  SM-vmts  Moun- 
tains, lying  west  of  us,  where  they  met  with 
the  Indians,  and  camped  with  them  one  or 
two  nights,  and  were  finally  killed.  I  am 
anxious  to  learn  the  circumstances,  and  as 
the  people  of  the  tribe  who  committed  the 
deed  live  but  a  little  way  from  and  are  inti- 
mate with  these  people,  I  ask  Chu-af-ru-um- 
peak  to  make  inquiry  for  me.  Then  we  go 
to  bed. 

September  17. — Early  this  morning  the 
Indians  come  up  to  our  camp.  They  have 
concluded  to  send  out  a  young  man  after  the 
Shi'-vwits.  The  runner  fixes  his  moccasins, 
puts  some  food  in  a  sack  and  water  in  a  little 
wicker  work  jug,  straps  them  on  his  back, 
and  starts  at  a  good  round  pace. 


298      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

We  have  concluded  to  go  down  the  canon, 
hoping  to  meet  the  SM-vwits  on  our  return. 
Soon  we  are  ready  to  start,  leaving  the  camp 
and  pack  animals  in  charge  of  the  two  In- 
dians who  came  with  us.  As  we  move  out, 
our  new  guide  comes  up,  a  blear  eyed,  weazen 
faced,  quiet  old  man,  with  his  bow  and  ar- 
rows in  one  hand,  and  a  small  cane  in  the 
other.  These  Indians  all  carry  canes  with 
a  crooked  handle,  they  say  to  kill  rattle- 
snakes, and  to  pull  rabbits  from  their  holes. 
The  valley  is  high  up  in  the  mountain,  and 
we  descend  from  it,  by  a  rocky,  precipitous 
trail,  down,  down,  down  for  two  long,  weary 
hours,  leading  our  ponies  and  stimibling  over 
the  rocks.  At  last  we  are  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  standing  on  a  little  knoll,  from 
which  we  can  look  into  a  canon  below.  Into 
this  we  descend,  and  then  we  follow  it  for 
miles,  clambering  down  and  still  down. 
Often  we  cross  beds  of  lava,  that  have  been 
poured  into  the  canon  by  lateral  channels, 
and  these  angular  fragments  of  basalt  make 
the  way  very  rough  for  the  animals. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  ^99 

About  two  o'clock  the  guide  halts  us  with 
his  wand,  and  springing  over  the  rocks  he  is 
lost  in  a  gulch.  In  a  few  minutes  he  returns, 
and  tells  us  there  is  a  little  water  below  in  a 
pocket.  It  is  vile  and  stinking,  and  our 
ponies  refuse  to  drink  it.  We  pass  on,  still 
ever  descending.  A  mile  or  two  from  the 
water  basin  we  come  to  a  precipice,  more  than 
a  thousand  feet  to  the  bottom.  There  is  a 
canon  running  at  a  greater  depth,  and  at 
right  angles  to  this,  into  which  this  enters  by 
the  precipice;  and  this  second  canon  is  a  lat- 
eral one  to  the  greater  one,  in  the  bottom  of 
which  we  are  to  find  the  river.  Searching 
about,  we  find  a  way  by  which  we  can  de- 
scend along  the  shelves,  and  steps,  and  piles 
of  broken  rocks. 

We  start  leading  our  ponies;  a  wall  upon 
our  left;  unknown  depths  on  our  right.  At 
places  our  way  is  along  shelves  so  narrow, 
or  so  sloping,  that  I  ache  with  fear  lest  a  pony 
should  make  a  misstep,  and  knock  a  man  over 
the  cliffs  with  him.  Now  and  then  we  start 
the  loose  rocks  under  our  feet,  and  over  the 


300      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

cliffs  they  go,  thundering  down,  down,  as  the 
echoes  roll  through  distant  canons.  At  last 
we  pass  along  a  level  shelf  for  some  distance, 
then  we  turn  to  the  right,  and  zigzag  down 
a  steep  slope  to  the  bottom.  Now  we  pass 
along  this  lower  canon,  for  two  or  three 
miles,  to  where  it  terminates  in  the  Grand 
Canon,  as  the  other  ended  in  this,  only  the 
river  is  1,800  feet  below  us,  and  it  seems, 
at  this  distance,  to  be  but  a  creek.  Our  with- 
ered guide,  the  human  pickle,  seats  himself 
on  a  rock,  and  seems  wonderfully  amused 
at  our  discomfiture,  for  we  can  see  no  way 
by  which  to  descend  to  the  river.  After 
some  minutes,  he  quietly  rises,  and,  beckon- 
ing us  to  follow,  he  points  out  a  narrow  slop- 
ing shelf  on  the  right,  and  this  is  to  be  our 
way.  It  leads  along  the  cliff,  for  half  a  mile, 
to  a  wider  bench  beyond,  which,  he  says,  is 
broken  down  on  the  other  side  in  a  great 
slide,  and  there  we  can  get  to  the  river.  So 
we  start  out  on  the  shelf;  it  is  so  steep  we 
can  hardly  stand  on  it,  and  to  fall,  or  slip, 
is  to  go — don't  look  and  seel 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  301 

It  is  soon  manifest  that  we  cannot  get  the 
ponies  along  the  ledge.  The  storms  have 
washed  it  down,  since  our  guide  was  here 
last,  years  ago.  One  of  the  ponies  has  gone 
so  far  that  we  cannot  turn  him  back  until 
we  find  a  wider  place,  but  at  last  we  get 
him  off.  With  part  of  the  men,  I  take  the 
horses  back  to  the  place  where  there  are  a 
few  bushes  growing,  and  turn  them  loose; 
in  the  meantime  the  other  men  are  looking 
for  some  way  by  which  we  can  get  down  to 
the  river.  When  I  return,  one,  Captain 
Bishop,  has  found  a  way,  and  gone  down. 
We  pack  bread,  coffee,  sugar,  and  two  or 
three  blankets  among  us,  and  set  out.  It 
is  now  nearly  dark,  and  we  cannot  find  the 
way  by  which  the  captain  went,  and  an  hour 
is  spent  in  fruitless  search.  Two  of  the  men 
go  away  around  an  amphitheater,  more  than 
a  fourth  of  a  mile,  and  start  down  a  broken 
chasm  that  faces  us,  who  are  behind.  These 
walls,  that  are  vertical,  or  nearly  so,  are  often 
cut  by  chasms,  where  the  showers  run  down, 
and  the  top  of  these  chasms  will  be  back  a 


S02      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

distance  from  the  face  of  the  wall,  and  the 
bed  of  the  chasm  will  slope  down,  with  here 
and  there  a  fall.  At  other  places,  huge 
rocks  have  fallen,  and  block  the  way.  Down 
such  a  one  the  two  men  start.  There  is  a 
curious  plant  growing  out  from  the  crevices 
of  the  rock.  A  dozen  stems  will  start  from 
one  root,  and  grow  to  the  length  of  eight  or 
ten  feet,  and  not  throw  out  a  branch  or  twig, 
but  these  stems  are  thickly  covered  with 
leaves.  Now  and  then  the  two  men  come 
to  a  bunch  of  dead  stems,  and  make  a  fire  to 
mark  for  us  their  way  and  progress. 

In  the  meantime  we  find  such  a  gulch, 
and  start  down,  but  soon  come  to  the  "jump- 
ing off  place,"  where  we  can  throw  a  stone, 
and  hear  it  faintly  striking,  away  below. 
We  fear  that  we  shall  have  to  stay  here, 
clinging  to  the  rocks  until  daylight.  Our 
little  Indian  gathers  a  few  dry  stems,  ties 
them  into  a  bundle,  lights  one  end,  and  holds 
it  up.  The  others  do  the  same,  and  with 
these  torches  we  find  a  way  out  of  trouble. 
Helping  each  other,  holding  torches  for  each 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  303 

other,  one  clinging  to  another's  hand  until 
we  can  get  footing,  then  supporting  the  other 
on  his  shoulders,  so  we  make  our  passage 
into  the  depths  of  the  canon.  And  now 
Captain  Bishop  has  kindled  a  huge  fire  of 
driftwood,  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  This, 
and  the  fires  in  the  gulch  opposite,  and  our 
own  flaming  torches,  light  up  little  patches, 
that  make  more  manifest  the  awful  darkness 
below.  Still,  on  we  go,  for  an  hour  or  two, 
and  at  last  we  see  Captain  Bishop  coming 
up  the  gulch,  with  a  huge  torch-light  on  his 
shoulders.  He  looks  like  a  fiend,  waving 
brands  and  lighting  the  fires  of  hell,  and  the 
men  in  the  opposite  gulch  are  imps,  lighting 
delusive  fires  in  inaccessible  crevices,  over 
yawning  chasms;  our  own  little  Indian  is 
surely  the  king  of  wizards,  so  I  think,  as 
I  stop  for  a  few  moments  on  a  rock  to  rest. 
At  last  we  meet  Captain  Bishop,  with  his 
flaming  torch,  and,  as  he  has  learned  the  way, 
he  soon  pilots  us  to  the  side  of  the  great  Col- 
orado. We  are  hungry  and  athirst,  almost 
to  starvation.     Here  we  lie  down  on  the 


504j      first  through  GRAND  CANYON 

rocks  and  drink,  just  a  mouthful  or  so,  as 
we  dare;  then  we  make  a  cup  of  coflfee,  and, 
spreading  our  blankets  on  a  sand  beach,  the 
roaring  Colorado  lulls  us  to  sleep. 

September  18. — We  are  in  the  Grand 
Canon,  by  the  side  of  the  Colorado,  more 
than  six  thousand  feet  below  our  camp  on 
the  mountain  side,  which  is  eighteen  miles 
away;  but  the  miles  of  horizontal  distance 
represent  but  a  small  part  of  the  day's  labor 
before  us.  It  is  the  mile  of  altitude  we  must 
gain  that  makes  it  a  herculean  task.  We 
are  up  early;  a  little  bread  and  coffee,  and 
we  look  about  us.  Our  conclusion  is,  that 
we  can  make  this  a  depot  of  supplies,  should 
it  be  necessary ;  that  we  can  pack  our  rations 
to  the  point  where  we  left  our  animals  last 
night,  and  that  we  can  employ  Indians  to 
bring  them  down  to  the  water's  edge. 

On  a  broad  shelf,  we  find  the  ruins  of  an 
old  stone  house,  the  walls  of  which  are  broken 
down,  and  we  can  see  where  the  ancient  peo- 
ple who  lived  here — a  race  more  highly  civ- 
ilized than  the  present— had  made  a  garden. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  306 

and  used  a  great  spring,  that  comes  out  of 
the  rocks,  for  irrigation.  On  some  rocks 
near  by  we  discover  some  curious  etchings. 
Still,  searching  about,  we  find  an  obscure 
trail  up  the  canon  wall,  marked,  here  and 
there,  by  steps  which  have  been  built  in  the 
loose  rock,  elsewhere  hewn  stairways,  and 
we  find  a  much  easier  way  to  go  up  than 
that  by  which  we  came  down  in  the  darkness 
last  night.  Coming  to  the  top  of  the  wall, 
we  catch  our  horses,  and  start.  Up  the 
canon  our  jaded  ponies  toil,  and  we  reach 
the  second  cliff;  up  this  we  go,  by  easy  stages, 
leading  the  animals.  Xow  we  reach  the 
stinking  water-pocket;  our  ponies  have  had 
no  water  for  thirty  hours,  and  are  eager  even 
for  this  foul  fluid.  We  carefully  strain  a 
kettleful  for  ourselves,  then  divide  what  is 
left  between  them — two  or  three  gallons  for 
each;  but  this  does  not  satisfy  them,  and 
they  rage  around,  refusing  to  eat  the  scanty 
grass.  We  boil  om*  kettle  of  water,  and 
skim  it;  straining,  boiling,  and  skimming 
makes  it  a  little  better,  for  it  was  full  of 


306      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

loathsome,  wriggling  larvse,  with  huge  black 
heads.  But  plenty  of  coffee  takes  away  the 
bad  smell,  and  so  modifies  the  taste  that  most 
of  us  can  drink,  though  our  little  Indian 
seems  to  prefer  the  original  mixture.  We 
reach  camp  about  sunset,  and  are  glad  to 
rest. 

September  19. — ^We  are  tired  and  sore, 
and  must  rest  a  day  with  our  Indian  neigh- 
bors. During  the  inclement  season  they 
live  in  shelters,  made  of  boughs,  or  bark  of 
the  cedar,  which  they  strip  off  in  long  shreds. 
In  this  climate,  most  of  the  year  is  dry  and 
warm,  and  during  such  time  they  do  not  care 
for  shelter.  Clearing  a  small,  circular  space 
of  ground,  they  bank  it  around  with  brush 
and  sand,  and  wallow  in  it  during  the  day, 
and  huddle  together  in  a  heap  at  night,  men, 
women,  and  children;  buckskin,  rags,  and 
sand.  They  wear  very  little  clothing,  not 
needing  much  in  this  lovely  climate. 

Altogether,  these  Indians  are  more  nearly 
in  their  primitive  condition  than  any  others 
on  the  continent  with  whom  I  am  acquainted. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  307 

They  have  never  received  anything  from  the 
Government,  and  are  too  poor  to  tempt  the 
trader,  and  their  country  is  so  nearly  inac- 
cessible that  the  white  man  never  visits  them. 
The  sunny  mountain  side  is  covered  with 
wild  fruits,  nuts,  and  native  grains,  upon 
which  they  subsist.  The  oose,  the  fruit  of 
the  yucca,  or  Spanish  bayonet,  is  rich,  and 
not  unlike  the  paw-paw  of  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio.  They  eat  it  raw,  and  also  roast  it 
in  the  ashes.  They  gather  the  fruits  of  a 
cactus  plant,  which  is  rich  and  luscious,  and 
eat  them  as  grapes,  or  from  them  express 
the  juice,  making  the  dry  pulp  into  cakes, 
and  saving  them  for  winter;  the  wine  they 
drink  about  their  camp  fires,  until  the  mid- 
night is  merry  with  the  revelries. 

They  gather  the  seeds  of  many  plants,  as 
sunflowers,  goldenrods,  and  grasses.  For 
this  purpose,  they  have  large  conical  baskets, 
which  hold  two  or  more  bushels.  The 
women  carry  them  on  their  backs,  suspended 
'from  their  foreheads  by  broad  straps,  and 
with  a  smaller  one  in  the  left  hand,  and  a 


308      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

willow  woven  fan  in  the  right,  they  walk 
among  the  grasses,  and  sweep  the  seed  into 
the  smaller  basket,  which  is  emptied,  now 
and  then,  into  the  larger,  until  it  is  full  of 
seeds  and  chaff;  then  they  winnow  out  the 
chaff  and  roast  the  seeds.  They  roast  these 
curiously;  they  put  the  seeds,  with  a  quan- 
tity of  red  hot  coals,  into  a  willow  tray,  and, 
by  rapidly  and  dexterously  shaking  and 
tossing  them,  keep  the  coals  aglow,  and  the 
seeds  and  tray  from  burning.  As  if  by 
magic,  so  skilled  are  the  crones  in  this  work, 
they  roll  the  seeds  to  one  side  of  the  tray, 
as  they  are  roasted,  and  the  coals  to  the 
other.  Then  they  grind  the  seeds  into  a  fine 
flour,  and  make  it  into  cakes  and  mush. 

It  is  a  merry  sight,  sometimes,  to  see  the 
women  grinding  at  the  mill.  For  a  mill, 
they  use  a  large  flat  rock,  lying  on  the 
ground,  and  another  small  cyhndrical  one 
in  their  hands.  They  sit  prone  on  the 
ground,  hold  the  large  flat  rock  between  the 
feet  and  legs,  then  fill  their  laps  with  seeds, 
making  a  hopper  to  the  mill  with  their  dusky 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  309 

legs,  and  grind  by  pushing  the  seeds  across 
the  larger  rock,  where  it  drops  into  a  tray. 
I  have  seen  a  group  of  women  grinding  to- 
gether, keeping  time  to  a  chant,  or  gossiping 
and  chatting,  while  the  younger  lassies  would 
jest  and  chatter,  and  make  the  pine  woods 
merry  with  their  laughter.  Mothers  carry 
their  babes  curiously  in  baskets.  They  make 
a  wicker  board,  by  plaiting  willows,  and  sew 
a  buckskin  cloth  to  either  edge,  and  this  is 
fulled  in  the  middle,  so  as  to  form  a  sack, 
closed  at  the  bottom.  At  the  top,  they  make 
a  wicker  shade,  like  "my  grandmother's  sun 
bonnet,"  and,  wrapping  the  little  one  in  a 
wild  cat  robe,  place  it  in  the  basket,  and  this 
they  carry  on  their  backs,  strapped  over  the 
forehead,  and  the  little  brown  midgets  are 
ever  peering  over  their  mother's  shoulders. 
In  camp,  they  stand  the  basket  against  the 
trunk  of  a  tree,  or  hang  it  to  a  limb. 

There  is  little  game  in  the  country,  yet 
they  get  a  mountain  sheep  now  and  then, 
or  a  deer,  with  their  arrows,  for  they  are  not 
yet  supplied  with  guns.     They  get  many 


510      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

rabbits,  sometimes  with  arrows,  sometimes 
with  nets.  They  make  a  net  of  twine,  made 
of  the  fibers  of  a  native  flax.  Sometimes 
this  is  made  a  hundred  yards  in  length,  and 
is  placed  in  a  half  circular  position,  with 
wings  of  sage  brush.  They  have  a  circle 
hunt,  and  drive  great  numbers  of  rabbits 
into  the  snare,  where  they  are  shot  with  ar- 
rows. Most  of  their  bows  are  made  of  ce- 
dar, but  the  best  are  made  of  the  horns  of 
mountain  sheep.  These  are  taken,  soaked 
in  water,  until  quite  soft,  cut  into  long  thin 
strips,  and  glued  together,  and  are  then  quite 
elastic.  During  the  autumn,  grasshoppers 
are  very  abundant.  When  cold  weather  sets 
in,  these  insects  are  numbed,  and  can  be 
gathered  by  the  bushel.  At  such  a  time,  they 
dig  a  hole  in  the  sand,  heat  stones  in  a  fire 
near  by,  put  some  in  the  bottom  of  the  hole, 
put  on  a  layer  of  grasshoppers,  then  a  layer 
of  hot  stones,  and  continue  this,  until  they 
put  bushels  on  to  roast.  There  they  are  left 
until  cool,  when  they  are  taken  out,  thor- 
oughly dried,  and  ground  into  meal.     Grass- 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  311 

hopper  gruel,  or  grasshopper  cake,  is  a  great 
treat. 

Their  lore  consists  in  a  mass  of  traditions, 
or  mythology.  It  is  very  difficult  to  induce 
them  to  tell  it  to  white  men;  but  the  old 
Spanish  priests,  in  the  days  of  the  conquest 
of  INTew  Mexico,  have  spread  among  the  In- 
dians of  this  country  many  Bible  stories, 
which  the  Indians  are  usually  willing  to  tell. 
It  is  not  always  easy  to  recognize  them,  the 
Indian  mind  being  a  strange  receptacle  for 
such  stories,  and  they  are  apt  to  sprout  new 
limbs.  Maybe  much  of  their  added  quaint- 
ness  is  due  to  the  way  in  which  they  were 
told  by  the  "fathers."  But  in  a  confidential 
way,  while  you  are  alone,  or  when  you  are 
admitted  to  their  camp  fire  on  a  winter  night, 
you  will  hear  the  stories  of  their  mythology. 
I  beheve  that  the  greatest  mark  of  friend- 
ship, or  confidence,  that  an  Indian  can  give, 
is  to  tell  you  his  religion.  After  one  has  so 
talked  with  me,  I  should  ever  trust  him ;  and 
I  feel  on  very  good  terms  with  these  Indians, 
since  our  experience  of  the  other  night. 


312      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

A  knowledge  of  the  watering  places,  and 
of  the  trails  and  passes,  is  considered  of  great 
importance,  and  is  necessary,  to  give  stand- 
ing to  a  chief. 

This  evening,  the  Shji^-vwits,  for  whom  we 
have  sent,  come  in,  and,  after  supper,  we 
hold  a  long  council.  A  blazing  fire  is  built, 
and  around  this  we  sit — the  Indians  living 
here,  the  SM-vwits,  Jacob  Hamblin,  and 
myself.  This  man,  Hamblin,  speaks  their 
language  well,  and  has  a  great  influence  over 
all  the  Indians  in  the  region  round  about. 
He  is  a  silent,  reserved  man,  and  when  he 
speaks,  it  is  in  a  slow,  quiet  way,  that  inspires 
great  awe.  His  talk  is  so  low  that  they  must 
listen  attentively  to  hear,  and  they  sit  around 
him  in  deathlike  silence.  When  he  finishes 
a  measured  sentence,  the  chief  repeats  it, 
and  they  all  give  a  solemn  grunt.  But,  first, 
I  fill  my  pipe,  light  it,  and  take  a  few  whiffs, 
then  pass  it  to  Hamblin;  he  smokes,  and 
gives  it  to  the  man  next,  and  so  it  goes 
around.  When  it  has  passed  the  chief,  he 
takes  out  his  own  pipe,  fills,  and  lights  it,  and 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  313 

passes  it  around  after  mine.  I  can  smoke 
my  own  pipe  in  turn,  but,  when  the  Indian 
pipe  comes  aroimd,  I  am  nonplussed.  It  has 
a  large  stem,  which  has,  at  some  time,  been 
broken,  and  now  there  is  a  buckskin  rag 
wound  around  it,  and  tied  with  sinew,  so 
that  the  end  of  the  stem  is  a  huge  mouthful, 
and  looks  like  the  burying  ground  of  old 
dead  spittle,  venerable  for  a  century.  To 
gain  time,  I  refill  it,  then  engage  in  very 
earnest  conversation,  and,  all  unawares,  I 
pass  it  to  my  neighbor  unlighted.  l^croft  IShrmj 

I  tell  the  Indians  that  I  wish  to  spend 
some  months  in  their  country  during  the  com- 
ing year,  and  that  I  would  like  them  to  treat 
me  as  a  friend.  I  do  not  wish  to  trade;  do 
not  want  their  lands.  Heretofore  I  have 
found  it  very  difficult  to  make  the  natives 
understand  my  object,  but  the  gravity  of 
the  Mormon  missionary  helps  me  much.  I 
tell  them  that  all  the  great  and  good 
white  men  are  anxious  to  know  very  many 
things ;  that  they  spend  much  time  in  learn- 
ing, and  that  the  greatest  man  is  he  who 


SU      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

knows  the  most.  They  want  to  know  all 
about  the  mountains  and  the  valleys,  the 
rivers  and  the  canons,  the  beasts,  and  birds, 
and  snakes.  Then  I  tell  them  of  many  In- 
dian tribes,  and  where  they  live;  of  the  Eu- 
ropean nations;  of  the  Chinese,  of  Africans, 
and  all  the  strange  things  about  them  that 
come  to  my  mind.  I  tell  them  of  the  ocean, 
of  great  rivers  and  high  mountains,  of 
strange  beasts  and  birds.  At  last  I  tell  them 
I  wish  to  learn  about  their  canons  and  moun- 
tains, and  about  themselves,  to  tell  other  men 
at  home ;  and  that  I  want  to  take  pictures  of 
everything,  and  show  them  to  my  friends. 
All  this  occupied  much  time,  and  the  matter 
and  manner  made  a  deep  impression. 

Then  their  chief  replies:  "Your  talk  is 
good,  and  we  believe  what  you  say.  We  be- 
lieve in  Jacob,  and  look  upon  you  as  a 
father.  When  you  are  hungry,  you  may 
have  our  game.  You  may  gather  our  sweet 
fruits.  We  will  give  you  food  when  you 
come  to  our  land.  We  will  show  you  the 
springs,  and  you  may  drink;  the  water  is 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  316 

good.  We  will  be  friends,  and  when  you 
come  we  will  be  glad.  We  will  tell  the  In- 
dians wlio  live  on  the  other  side  of  the  great 
river  that  we  have  seen  Ka^-pu-rats,  and  he  is 
the  Indians'  friend.  We  will  tell  them  he  is 
Jacob's  friend.  We  are  very  poor.  Look 
at  our  women  and  children;  they  are  naked. 
We  have  no  horses ;  we  climb  the  rocks,  and 
our  feet  are  sore.  We  live  among  rocks,  and 
they  yield  little  food  and  many  thorns. 
When  the  cold  moons  come,  our  children  are 
hungry.  We  have  not  much  to  give;  you 
must  not  think  us  mean.  You  are  wise ;  we 
have  heard  you  tell  strange  things.  We  are 
ignorant.  Last  year  we  killed  three  white 
men.  Bad  men  said  they  were  our  enemies. 
They  told  great  lies.  We  thought  them 
true.  We  were  mad;  it  made  us  big  fools. 
We  are  very  sorry.  Do  not  think  of  them, 
it  is  done;  let  us  be  friends.  We  are  igno- 
rant— like  little  children  in  understanding 
compared  with  you.  When  we  do  wrong, 
do  not  get  mad,  and  be  like  children  too. 
''When  white  men  kill  our  people,  we  kill 


S16      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

them.  Then  they  kill  more  of  us.  It  is  not 
good.  We  hear  that  the  white  men  are  a 
great  number.  When  they  stop  killing  us, 
there  will  be  no  Indian  left  to  bury  the  dead. 
We  love  our  country;  we  know  not  other 
lands.  We  hear  that  other  lands  are  better; 
we  do  not  know.  The  pines  sing,  and  we 
are  glad.  Our  children  play  in  the  warm 
sand ;  we  hear  them  sing,  and  are  glad.  The 
seeds  ripen,  and  we  have  to  eat,  and  we  are 
glad.  We  do  not  want  their  good  lands; 
we  want  our  rocks,  and  the  great  mountains 
where  our  fathers  lived.  We  are  very  poor ; 
we  are  very  ignorant ;  but  we  are  very  honest. 
iYou  have  horses,  and  many  things.  You  are 
very  wise;  you  have  a  good  heart.  We  will 
be  friends.     Nothing  more  have  I  to  say." 

Ka'-pu-rats  is  the  name  by  which  I  am 
known  among  the  Utes  and  Shoshones, 
meaning  ''arm  off."  There  was  much  more 
repetition  than  I  have  given,  and  much  em- 
phasis. After  this  a  few  presents  were 
given,  we  shook  hands,  and  the  council  broke 
up. 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  317 

Mr.  Hamblin  fell  into  conversation  with 
one  of  the  men,  and  held  him  until  the  others 
had  left,  and  then  learned  more  of  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  death  of  the  three  men.  They 
came  upon  the  Indian  village  almost  starved 
and  exhausted  with  fatigue.  They  were 
supplied  with  food,  and  put  on  their  way  to 
the  settlements.  Shortly  after  they  had  left, 
an  Indian  from  the  east  of  the  Colorado 
arrived  at  their  village,  and  told  them  about 
a  number  of  miners  having  killed  a  squaw 
in  drunken  brawl,  and  no  doubt  these  were 
the  men.  No  person  had  ever  come  down 
the  canon;  that  was  impossible;  they  were 
trying  to  hide  their  guilt.  In  this  way  he 
worked  them  into  a  great  rage.  They  fol- 
lowed, surrounded  the  men  in  ambush,  and 
filled  them  full  of  arrows.* 

That  night  I  slept  in  peace,  although  these 
murderers  of  my  men,  and  their  friends,  the 
U'ln-ka-rets,  were  sleeping  not  five  hundred 
yards  away.     While  we  were  gone  to  the 

*  The  murder  of  the  two  Howlands  and  Dunn  was  com- 
mitted at  what  is  now  known  as  Ambush  Waterpocket, 
south  of  Mount  Dellenbaugh.     {Ed.) 


318      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

canon,  the  pack-train  and  supplies,  enough 
to  make  an  Indian  rich  beyond  his  wildest 
dreams,  were  all  left  in  their  charge,  and  were 
all  safe;  not  even  a  lump  of  sugar  was  pil- 
fered by  the  children. 

September  20. — For  several  days  we  have 
been  discussing  the  relative  merits  of  several 
names  for  these  mountains.  The  Indians 
call  them  U-in-ka-rets,  the  region  of  pines, 
and  we  adopt  the  name.  The  great  moun- 
tain we  call  Mount  Trumbull,  in  honor  of 
the  Senator.  To-day  the  train  starts  back 
to  the  canon  water-pocket,  while  Captain 
Bishop  and  I  climb  Mount  Trumbull.  On 
our  way  we  pass  the  point  that  was  the  last 
opening  to  the  volcano. 

It  seems  but  a  few  years  since  the  last 
flood  of  fire  swept  the  valley.  Between  two 
rough,  conical  hills  it  poured,  and  ran  down 
the  valley  to  the  foot  of  a  mountain  standing 
almost  at  the  lower  end,  then  parted,  and 
ran  on  either  side  of  the  mountain.  This 
last  overflow  is  very  plainly  marked;  there 
is  soil,  with  trees  and  grass,  to  the  very  edge 


THE  RIO  VIRGEN  319 

of  it,  on  a  more  ancient  bed.  The  flood  was 
everywhere  on  its  border  from  ten  to  twenty- 
feet  in  height,  terminating  abruptly,  and 
looking  like  a  wall  from  below.  On  cool- 
ing, it  shattered  into  fragments,  but  these  are 
still  in  place,  and  you  can  see  the  outlines 
of  streams  and  waves.  So  little  time  has 
elapsed  since  it  ran  down,  that  the  elements 
have  not  weathered  a  soil,  and  there  is 
scarcely  any  vegetation  on  it,  but  here  and 
there  a  lichen  is  found.  And  yet,  so  long 
ago  was  it  poured  from  the  depths,  that 
where  ashes  and  cinders  have  collected  in  a 
few  places,  some  huge  cedars  have  grown. 
Near  the  crater  the  frozen  waves  of  black 
basalt  are  rent  with  deep  fissures,  transverse 
to  the  direction  of  the  flow.  Then  we  ride 
through  a  cedar  forest,  up  a  long  ascent,  until 
we  come  to  cliffs  of  columnar  basalt.  Here 
we  tie  our  horses,  and  prepare  for  a  climb 
among  the  columns.  Through  crevices  we 
work,  till  at  last  we  are  on  the  mountain,  a 
thousand  acres  of  pine  land  spread  out  be- 
fore us,  gently  rising  to  the  other  edge. 


320      FIRST  THROUGH  GRAND  CANYON 

There  are  two  peaks  on  the  mountain.  We 
walked  two  miles  to  the  foot  of  the  one  look- 
ing to  be  the  highest,  then  a  long,  hard  climb 
to  its  summit.  And  here,  oh,  what  a  view 
is  before  us!  A  vision  of  glory!  Peaks  of 
lava  all  around  below  us.  The  Vermilion 
Cliifs  to  the  north,  with  their  splendor  of 
colors;  the  Pine  Valley  Mountain  to  the 
northwest,  clothed  in  mellow,  perspective 
haze;  unnamed  mountains  to  the  southwest, 
towering  over  canons,  bottomless  to  my  peer- 
ing gaze,  like  chasms  to  the  nadir  hell;  and 
away  beyond,  the  San  Francisco  Mountains, 
lifting  their  black  heads  into  the  heavens. 
We  find  our  way  down  the  mountain,  reach- 
ing the  trail  made  by  the  pack-train  just  at 
dusk. 

Two  days  more,  and  we  are  at  Pipe 
Spring;  one  day,  and  we  are  at  Kanab. 
Eight  miles  above  the  town  is  a  canon,  on 
either  side  of  which  is  a  group  of  lakes.  By 
the  side  of  one  of  these  I  sit,  the  crystal  wa- 
ters at  my  feet,  at  which  I  may  drink  at  will. 

THE  END 


OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY— NEW  YORK 


OUTING 
ADVENTURE 
LIBRARY 

Edited  by  Horace    Kephart 

Here  are  brought  together  for  the  first 
time  the  great  stories  of  adventure  of  all  ages 
and  countries.  These  are  the  personal  records 
of  the  men  who  climbed  the  mountains,  pene- 
trated the  jungles,  explored  the  seas  and  crossed  the  desert; 
who  knew  the  chances  and  took  them,  and  lived  to  write  their 
own  tale*  of  hardship,  endurance  and  achievement.  The  scries  will 
consist  of  an  indeterminate  number  of  volumes — for  the  stories  are 
myriad.  The  whole  will  be  edited  by  Horace  Kephart.  Each 
volume  answers  the  test  of  these  questions :  Is  it  true  ?  Is  it  inter- 
esting? The  entire  series  is  uniform  in  style  and  binding.  Among 
the  titles  now  ready  or  in  preparation  are  those  described  on  the 
following  pages.    Price  $1.00  each,  net.    Postage  10  cents  extra. 

IN    THE    OLD    WEST,    by    George    Frederick 

Ruxton.  The  men  who  blazed  the  trail  across  the  Rockies  to 
the  Pacific  were  independent  trappers  and  hunters  in  the  days  before 
the  Mexican  war.  They  left  no  records  of  their  adventures  and 
most  of  them  linger  now  only  at  shadowy  names.  But  a  young 
Englishman  lived  among  them  for  a  time,  saw  life  from  their  point 
of  view,  trapped  with  them  and  fought  with  them  against  the  Inoians. 
That  was  George  Frederick  Ruxton.  His  story  is  our  only  complete 
picture  of  the  Old  West  in  the  days  of  the  real  pioneers,  of  Kit 
Carson,  Jim  Bridger,  Bill  "Williams,  the  Sublettes,  and  all  the  rest 
of  that  glorious  company  of  the  forgotten  who  opened  the  West. 


OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY— NEW  YORK 

CASTAWAYS  AND  CRUSOES.  Since  the  beginning 
of  navigation  men  have  faced  the  dangers  of  shipwreck  and  starva- 
tion. Scattered  through  the  annals  of  the  sea  are  the  stories  of 
those  to  whom  disaster  came  and  the  personal  records  of  the 
way  they  met  it.  Some  of  them  are  given  in  this  volume,  narratives 
of  men  who  lived  by  their  hands  among  savages  on  forlorn 
coasts,  or  drifted  helpless  in  open  boats.  They  range  &om  the 
Soutib  Seas  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  from  Patagonia  to  Cuba. 
They  are  echoes  from  the  days  when  the  best  that  could  be  hoped 
by  tne  man  who  went  to  sea  was  hardship  and  man's-sized  work. 

CAPTIVES  AMONG  THE  INDIANS.    First  of  aU  is 

the  story  of  Captain  James  Smith,  who  was  captiu'ed  by  the  Dela- 
wares  at  the  time  of  Braddock's  defeat,  was  adopted  into  the  tribe, 
and  for  four  years  lived  as  an  Indian,  hunting  with  them,  studying 
their  habits,  and  learning  their  point  of  view.  Then  there  is  the 
story  of  Father  Bressani  who  felt  the  tortures  of  the  Iroquois,  of 
Mary  Rowlandson  who  was  among  the  human  spoils  of  King 
Philip's  war,  and  of  Mercy  Harbison  who  suffered  in  the  red  flood 
that  followed  St.  Clair's  defeat.  All  are  personal  records  made  by 
the  actors  themselves  in  those  days  when  the  Indian  was  constantly 
at  our  forefather's  doors. 

FIRST    THROUGH    THE     GRAND    CANYON, 

by  Major  John  Wesley  Powell.  Major  Powell  was  an  officer  in 
the  Union  Army  who  lost  an  arm  at  Shiloh.  In  spite  of  this,  years 
after  the  war  he  organized  an  expedition  which  explored  the  Grand 
Canyon  of  the  Colorado  in  boats — the  first  to  make  this  journey.  His 
story  has  been  lost  for  years  in  the  oblivion  of  a  scientific  report. 
It  is  here  rescued  and  presented  as  a  record  of  one   of  the  great 

Eersonal  exploring  feats,  fitted  to  rank  with  the  exploits  of  Pike, 
ewis  and  Clark,  and  Mackenzie. 


OUTING  PVBUSHING  COMPANY-NEW  YORK 

ADRIFT  IN  THE  ARCTIC  ICE-PACK,  by  Dr. 
Elisha  Kent  Kane.  Dr.  Kane  vras  connected  with  one  of  the 
numerous  relief  expeditions  which  went  north  in  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  sailing  from  New  York  early  in  the  spring  of  1849. 
They  found  themselves  caught  in  the  ice  of  Lancaster  Sound  early 
in  the  fall  and  spent  the  entire  winter  driving  to  and  fro  across  the 
Sound  frozen  fast  in  the  ice-pack.  Dr.  Kane's  narrative  gives  the 
most  vivid  and  accurate  account  that  has  ever  appeared  of  ship  life 
during  an  arctic  winter.  He  contrihutes  many  important  observa- 
tions as  to  ice  and  weather  conditions.  His  picture  of  the  equip- 
ment and  provisions  makes  rather  strange  reading  in  the  light  of 
our  modern  development  for  exploration  purposes. 

THE  LION  HUNTER,  by  Ronalyn  Gordon- 
Cumming.  The  author  was  an  Englishman  who  was  among  the 
first  of  the  now  numerous  tribe  of  sportsmen  writers.  Going  out  to 
South  Africa  in  the  early  half  of  the  last  century  he  found  a  hunting 
field  as  yet  untouched;  antelope  roamed  the  plains  like  cattle  on  a 
western  range  and  lions  were  almost  as  numerous  as  coyotes  in  the 
old  cattle  days.  In  the  course  of  his  wanderings  with  the  handful 
of  natives,  he  penetrated  the  far  interior  of  Africa  and  finally 
encountered  Livingston.  His  account  of  his  experiences  with 
dangerous  game  armed  only  with  the  old-fashioned  muzzle-loaded 
rifles  makes  the  exploits  of  modem  sportsmen  seem  almost  puny 
in  their  safety. 

HOBART  PASHA,  by  Augustus  Charles  HobarN 
Hampden.  Recollections  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of 
the  19th  century.  He  served  in  the  English  Navy  from  1835-1863, 
after  which  he  engaged  in  blockade  running  in  the  interest  of  the 
Confederacy,  in  the  prosecution  of  which  he  had  many  close  shaves 
but  was  never  caught*  He  then  entered  the  Turkish  navy,  built  it 
up  and  fought  against  the  Russians.  The  whole  book  is  filled  with 
thrilling  adventures  and  narrow  escapes, 

LIFE  AMONG  THE  APACHES,  by  John  C.  Cremony. 
He  was  interpreter  of  the  United  States  Boundary  Conunission  and 
served  against  the  Indians  as  Major  of  a  California  regiment 
during  the  Civil  War.  His  personal  encounters  with  the  Apaches 
were  of  the  most  desperate  nature. 


OUTING  PUBLISHING  COMPANY^NEW  YORK 
ADVENTURES  IN  MEXICO,  by  George  Frederick 

Ruxton.  This  volume  describes  Ruxton's  second  visit  to  America, 
but  this  time  he  landed  at  Vera  Cruz,  from  where  he  went  to  Mexico 
City  and  thence  north  to  the  American  border.  Mexico  was  then  at 
war  >viththe  United  States,  bandits  roamed  over  the  country  right  up 
to  the  gates  of  the  capital,  and  Indians  infested  the  northern  p«rt. 
Still  he  made  the  jouTney  of  2,000  miles,  often  alone,  experiencing 
many  exciting  adventures. 

WILD  LIFE  IN  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS,  by 

George  Frederick  Ruxton.  A  continuation  of  Ruxton's 
ADVENTURES  IN  MEXICO,  from  Chihuahua  north.  In  the  course 
of  his  journey  he  had  to  pass  through  treeless  deserts,  where  ho 
sufiered  much  from  lack  of  water;  spent  the  winter  in  the  Rocky 
Moimtains  and  finally  crossed  the  United  States  boundary. 

THE    GOLD    HUNTER,    by    J.    D.    Borthwick. 

He  was  an  English  artist  who  joined  the  rush  of  treasurer  seekers 
to  California  in  1851.  It  is  a  lively  description  of  the  voyage  via 
Panama,  of  San  Francisco  from  its  days  of  the  bowie-knife  and  top- 
boots  to  its  development  into  an  orderly  community,  of  life  (and  death) 
in  "the  diggings"  and  of  the  motley  gathering  of  all  nationalities  in 
town  and  camp,  their  toil,  sports,  virtues,  crimes  and  shifting  fortunes. 
The  book  covers  the  period  from  1851-1856. 


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